Giving up some wasteful conveniences and going green might have felt thankless in the past, but not anymore.
A brand-new program called The Green Awards™ will honor people who are doing their part for a more sustainable world. It’s the work of folks from top environmental organizations such as Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, the Environmental Defense Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, the Rainforest Alliance and many others in partnership with Green Giant.
The best news is, being green could win you some serious green! Twelve finalists will split $120,000, with four grand prize winners taking home $25,000 each.
The competition is split into four categories: green civic leader (a mayor, city councilmember, judge, parks and recreation official, etc.); green entrepreneur (an inventor or business owner); green local organizer (anyone outside business who’s making an impact on his or her community); and green parent (a person setting an example for kids and the neighborhood). In addition to a grand prize winner in each category, two runners-up will get $2,500 apiece which could be used as seed money to expand the good work they’re already doing to improve the planet.
Sold yet? Grab your CFLs and reusable shopping bags and head to THEGreenAwards.com to enter before March 6. Simply upload a one-minute video explaining how and why your initiative came to be and why it’s important to your community. Then submit a 100-word essay about what $25,000 could do to take the initiative to the next level. (Example entries on the site zap any excuses you might be thinking up.)
Through March and April, both consumers and a judging panel with some of the country’s top sustainability thought-leaders will vote to decide the finalists. Then in May, all the finalists will be flown to Los Angeles for The Green Awards celebration and the announcement of the winners. (Yes, their emissions will be offset and the event will be produced in an environmentally-responsible way!)
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a gung-ho environmentalist, you may very well be doing transformational work in your community. A recent survey sponsored by Green Giant found that 97 percent of moms know that even doing a few small things can help improve the environment. If you’re one of them, and you’re recognized by The Green Awards, suddenly your ingenious idea will be an example for others. Just think, community recycling and composting, free bike programs and community gardens were all created by individuals and were once revolutionary but are now commonplace. What’s the next big green thing?
Photo by snre via Flickr.
This post is sponsored by Green Giant.