Camden Celebrates Environmental Excellence
Camden organisations demonstrating environmental excellence were recognised at a special awards ceremony at Camden Town Hall this week.
The Environmental Excellence in Camden Organisations Awards (EECO) were presented by Camden Council Leader Cllr Keith Moffitt and Camden Mayor Nurul Islam on Tuesday April 21.
The first ever ‘EECO’ Awards 2009 were awarded to organisations for:
- Greatest improvement in environmental performance
- Innovation in energy efficiency and carbon reduction
- The TfL Enterprise Award for Innovation in sustainable transport and travel
- Innovation in waste management and recycling
- Outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability in Camden
- Exceptional contribution by an individual to their organisation’s environmental performance
The big winners on the night were Alara Wholefoods Ltd who scooped the award for ‘Outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability in Camden’. Alara became the first UK food company to achieve ‘zero waste’ helped by the development of its organic permaculture forest garden.
Everything it uses is recycled or reused. The organisation composts its organic waste on site - in a closed system - and the compost is used to grow food for staff in the forest garden.
Alara also involve the local community in the garden and share its experiences to lead other organisations by example.
Councillor Keith Moffitt, Leader of Camden Council said
"These organisations represent the best in the borough.Their efforts will motivate others and help show them the way towards becoming greener and leaner organisations, which is especially important in the tougher economic climate. We’re delighted to be able to award such an incredible group of organisations in Camden. They are doing far more than simply complying with legislation, which helps protect and enhance the environment now and for future generations."
Alex Smith, Managing Director of Alara said "It’s a privilege to win this award from such a forward-thinking Council as Camden. This award, and Camden’s continued support, is really appreciated".
The awards were supported by TFL Enterprise and the Camden Climate Change Alliance, a partnership between Camden Council and local organisations of all sizes across all sectors working together to cut carbon emissions in Camden.
Good practice will be shared by the organisations through the development of case studies to be promoted by the Camden Climate Change Alliance on its website and at its workshops and seminars.
Other winners and highly commended organisations:
(1) Greatest improvement in environmental performance
Winner: Azographics for clearly going the extra mile to green every aspect of their business, from greening their procurement to only using LPG or hybrid vehicles to make their client deliveries where they can’t make these on foot.
Highly Commended: Camden Arts Centre, Consolidated PR, Olswang
(2) Innovation in energy efficiency and carbon reduction
Winner: Park Inn London, Russell Square for successfully implementing energy efficient technologies into a major refurbishment, calculating their carbon footprint, and achieving real carbon reductions through introducing a building management system significantly cutting gas consumption.
Highly commended: Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, London Residential
(3) The TfL Enterprise Award for Innovation in sustainable transport and travel
Winner: Addison Lee for significantly reducing unnecessary miles travelled by their drivers, making smart vehicle choices, and working on many levels to have achieved a massive reduction in CO2 emissions to date.
Highly commended: WhizzGo Europe Ltd, London Residential
(4) Innovation in waste management and recycling
Winner: Inholborn for making it easy and cost effective for over 200 organisations to start recycling or to recycle more by offering an environmentally friendly, multi-material innovative recycling service.
Highly commended: Alara Wholfoods Ltd, KOKO
(5) Outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability in Camden
Winner: Alara Wholefoods Ltd for becoming the first UK food company to achieve ‘zero waste’, developing its organic permaculture forest garden, involving the local community and actively sharing its experiences and leading other organisations by example.
Highly commended: Inholborn
(6) Exceptional contribution by an individual to their organisation’s environmental performance
Winners: (1) Jason Duffy, Park Inn London, Russell Square (2) Sophie Townsend, Zoological Society London, London Zoo (3) Richard Gough, Camden Arts Centre.
These three individuals have all gone beyond their day to day duties to reduce their organisation’s impact on the environment. Its through their passion and enthusiasm that environmental projects have been implemented and resulting environmental impacts measured and reduced, things that could not have happened without their efforts.
Link to Pictures -
http://camden.images.newsflashconnect.co.uk/pickuppictures.tlx?pickupid=600525