People & Planet
Green Business Award
Awarding $60K annually to 12 socially & environmentally responsible businesses
The People & Planet Award recognizes businesses for their dedication to a green economy: a bottom line that includes protecting workers, communities, and the environment. Seasonally, we award three $5,000 cash prizes in a range of green-business categories, such as zero-waste, clean energy, and local community action.
The Spring People & Planet Award voting will be open through Friday, May 31 at 5PM EST. Sign-up for our e-mail newsletter to find out in early June who our spring winners are, and check out previous People & Planet winners below.
People & Planet Winners' Gallery:
WINTER 2013
Theme: Zero Waste
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| CompostNow is a weekly doorstep pick-up service allowing households to divert their food scraps and compostable waste, creating nutrient-rich soil for home and community gardens. As of February 2013, CompostNow and its community had intercepted 50,000 lbs. of compostable waste, producing f 25,000 lbs. of compost. CompostNow intends to use the award money to branch out into other North Carolina cities. | In addition to their robust container return-and-reuse program, Hummingbird Wholesale pursues zero-waste with their clean and green bike delivery system. "Our prize money will buy us a second electric bike cart, doubling our bike delivery capacity," says Kristie Steele of Hummingbird Wholesale. "Making local deliveries via bike pays off in cleaner air, fun and healthy work, and ongoing inspiration for our co-owners and community." |
Preserve manufactures plastic personal care products out of 100-percent recycled #5 plastic, rescuing thousands of yogurt containers, lip-balm tubes, Brita filters, and other toss-away items from the landfill. Preserve will be using the prize money to help find and reward upcoming winners of the company's own Local Heroes of Recycling contest. “We are thrilled to be able to pay it forward,” says Preserve CEO Eric Hudson. |
Congratulations to our additional Winter 2013 Finalists:
| American Textile & Supply, Contra Costa, CA | Repurposed Materials, Denver, CO |
| First World Trash, Queens, NY | Stay Vocal, Norwell, MA |
| Green Citizen, San Francisco, CA | Urban Ore, Berkeley, CA |
| Grounds for Change, Poulsbo, WA |
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FALL 2012
Theme: Clean Energy
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| City Roots grows 75 varieties of fruits and vegetables, keeps bees for both honey and pollination, and raises chickens for both eggs and include the platinum-LEED-certified, un-air-conditioned, naturally lit main building and a hybrid delivery car. The People & Planet Award will help finance a solar hydroponic growing system, as well as a new strategy for reducing tractor fuel. | Clean Currents is a green electricity provider that sells wind and solar energy to residents and businesses in Washington, DC; Maryland; and central Pennsylvania. Through renewable energy purchases by both business and residential customers, Clean Currents offset 288,430,778 lbs. of CO2 emissions in 2011. They're investing their award in advancing their Green Neighborhood Challenge. |
“We will use our award to establish our new office composting system and teach the other businesses in our building how to compost with us," says Third Sun's Michelle Greenfield. "We'll reduce our company’s carbon footprint with an energy-efficiency lighting retrofit, and we will install some solar power with our local Habitat for Humanity chapter. Thank you for making these opportunities possible!” |
Congratulations to our additional Fall 2012 Finalists:
| Angel Wind Energy, Onarga, IL | Green Canopy Homes, Seattle, WA |
| Brighton Car Wash, Naperville, IL | Mosaic, Oakland, CA |
| Cooperative Energy Futures, Minneapolis, MN | Pacific Biodiesel, Kahului, HI |
| Cozy Pure, Norfolk, VA |
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SUMMER 2012
Theme: Local Community Action
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| Green Kid Crafts provides convenient, sustainable, and engaging activities that help families enjoy their quality time together while cultivating a child’s love and respect for the environment. They offset 100% of their carbon emissions, and partner with their local community nonprofit Hope Community Resources to employ a team of disabled people to pack and ship their Discovery Boxes. | Raleigh City Farm is a commercial urban farm growing food made from local rain, local compost, and local sunshine. They supply many local restaurants with organic produce, and partner local businesses to re-use their waste (wood, coffee bags, cardboard, and newspapers) as growing-beds. Their People & Planet Award will help them build a rain-water collection and irrigation system. | Sonoma Compost Company (SCC), the regional compost facility for Sonoma County since 1993, has diverted nearly 1.5 million tons of organic matter (yard trimmings and vegetative food scraps) from landfills. SCC is both a sponsor and educator in the "350 Home and Garden Challenge" led by the local nonprofit Daily Acts. SCC donated the cash prize from its People & Planet Award to Daily Acts. |
Congratulations to our additional Summer 2012 Finalists:
| Coffee By Design, Portland, ME | MiaDonna, Portland, OR |
| Fiberactive Organics, Raleigh, NC | Old City Green, Washington, DC |
| Glad Rags, Portland, OR | Root-n-Roost Farm, White Sulphur Springs, NY |
| Liveability Project, Bethesda, MD |
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Find more green businesses and green-economy inspiration from:
- Our Green American magazine
- Our National Green Pages®
- Our Faces of the Green Pages interviews
Join Green America to receive a subscription to the Green American, copy of the National Green Pages, and a copy of our Guide to Socially Responsible Investing. When you join us, you provide valuable support to the green businesses in our network, and you power our work to push the worst corporations to improve.
Thank you for your support »
*Judges for this season's awards program include: Katie Galloway & Gigi Abbadie, Aveda; Justin Conway, Calvert Foundation; Elysa Hammond, Clif Bar; Lisa Stokke, Food Democracy Now; Jenny Burns, Honest Tea; Kristin Bower, Neighborhood Farm Initiative; Jonathan Reinbold, Organic Valley; John Lively, Preserve (winter winner!); Eric Henry, TS Designs; and Reed Doyle, Seventh Generation; Fran Teplitz & Andrew Korfhage, Green America. Thank you to our panel!