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Background

 

Launched in 2006 to critical acclaim, the GREEN Awards were set up to recognise and reward creative work that communicates the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainable development and ethical best practice in any sector and across any marketing discipline.

Now in its 5th year the GREEN Awards™  are going global and are for the first time opened for entry from all over the world.

The Global GREEN Awards™ has become an established event on the global eco-calendar. The Awards illustrate the crucial role that needs to be played by green marketing and sustainability communications in informing people about green issues, products and lifestyle choices, and showcase examples of excellence and best practice in communicating sustainability and green issues. It’s evident now there’s an increasing appetite from business and industry for examples of excellence and best practice in communicating sustainability and green issues which the Green Awards showcase. Previous winners include Nokia, Marks & Spencer, UNEP and Do the Green Thing.

The Global GREEN Awards™ recognise excellence in 16 categories from Best Green International Campaign to Best Green Use of Mobile Apps & Technology.

‘The Green Awards go beyond words – celebrating the real activity that is going on in the community to produce inspiring individual and collective actions that are making a tangible contribution to greening the world in which we live. I am delighted to support them’
Jon Snow, Newscaster, Channel 4 News

This year, 3 new categories have been introduced to acknowledge the ever-increasing breadth and depth of green marketing:

•    Best Green Educational Project: for educational project that prepares individuals as active and participant world   citizens working for their society and the environment.

•    Best Green New Product Innovation: for any firms which have incorporated green issues in their product development.

•    Best Green Use of Mobile Apps & Technology: for  those who have used the mobile platform for green and ethical purposes.

 

Raising Awareness

 

Designed to raise awareness of Green issues, and boost the role of marketing in influencing and informing consumer behaviour, the Awards provide a high-profile platform for companies and individuals to showcase their positive commitments to the planet. With support from a range of influential supporting partners including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and an eminent panel of expert judges, the awards showcase how sustainability can be represented through creativity.

According to Eric Falt, former communications director at UNEP “when the Green Awards were initiated, they represented a good idea whose time had come. In their first year they were marketed successfully and intelligently, very much in the spirit of what the awards themselves are trying to reward.” In calling for a wider variety of entrants, it is hoped that the event will spread the message to an even larger audience. Eric Falt concludes: “when everyone from the UK Government’s chief scientist to the editor of the Sun is warning about climate change and suggesting ways of mitigating it, we all know the topic has become mainstream.”

The GREEN AWARDS like the environmental issues they highlight have an impact that extends far beyond the narrow spectrum of the marketing industry. As marketing is a key driver of economic growth, it is ideally placed to become a key driver of responsible growth.
Iain Patton, Partner GREEN & Founder Green Awards

Marketing and sustainability

Chalk and cheese? We don’t think so…

 

Marketing forms part of the fabric of our lives and whether we like it or not, its reach is unparalleled in society. We’re inundated with images and messages, often to the point of sensory overload. Does this mean we’re merely passive consumers accepting a corporate message? Or do we as individuals negotiate the way we consume, and decide for ourselves whose voices we listen to?

Green marketing needs to talk directly to people. Not just echo the worn stereotype of the mindless consumer. Individuals can make a difference to a human problem – climate change. It should not be a ‘fringe’ issue of interest only to environmentalists.

As an innovative and progressive practice, marketing has the potential to inspire hope. In fact, we believe it has the power to change the face of business for good. That’s why marketing must become sustainable: both in spirit and practice.

We’re here to celebrate and reward. But the story doesn’t end here. The Green Awards are a process: ‘green’ is a movement. A state of mind. And it’s the colour of new ideas. You can keep the journey going…

“It's important to celebrate initiatives that drive us towards a One Planet Future - a future in which the production and consumption of goods and services flourish within the Earth's ecological limits."
Dax Lovegrove
Head of Business Relations and 'One Planet Business',WWF