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Today I found out about CNet’s new eco site SmartPlanet.com. It’s got loads of interesting articles about what people and businesses are doing; News on green issues and organic, fair trade and low-carbon products.
My 3 top articles are;
- Eco bloggers bring the landfill home
- SmartPlanet looks forward to Estethica at London Fashion Week
- Photos: MiniCat, the car that runs on air
I especially liked the article on the American Ari Delfer that has kept all his rubbish for a whole year – he’s planning on making a SuperSizeMe style film about the experience – although presumably he’d have to start all over again?
Last week The Independent announced that Belu Water founder Reed Paget won the 2007 social entrepreneur award.
It turns out that The Schwab Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group have been the driving forces behind the search for social entrepreneurs not just in the UK, but throughout the globe. The Independent award for the UK is just one of 22 different country awards. The winners from the other countries have been announced over the last 12 months (with a few more to come):
France: Anne-Karine Stocchetti for Gepetto – a network that delivers childcare in the home for parents that work odd hours (nights, weekends, early mornings).
Singapore: Kenny Low for CHEC – an education centre that targets youths that have dropped out of the mainstream school system.
Israel: Bilha Piamenta for Kav-Or – distance learning for children in hospital using computers and tailored software to provide education, companionship, and opportunities to play.
Germany: Rose Volz-Schmidt for Wellcome – a support network for families with newborn children, providing help and respite if the mother feels overwhelmed.
Canada: Geoffrey Cape for Evergreen – whose missions is to bring communities and nature together for the benefit of both.
India: Harish Hande for Selco Solar Light – provides access to rural solar electrification for below poverty line families.
Brazil: Sebastião (Tião) Rocha for Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvovimento (CPCD) – romote informal education and community development through reciprocal leaning, play, games, mobile libraries, theatre and music.
Indonesia: Anton Sudjarwo for Yayasan Dian Desa – focuses on product and service innovations that enhance the quality of life of marginalised communities, as well as to set them on a path towards self-reliance.
Argentina: Gustavo Gennuso for Fundación Gente Nueva – the foundation focuses on education and enterprise development for at-risk youths.
Colombia: Alvaro Dávila for Fundación Social – the foundation uses the interest of community savings accounts to invest in for-profit business enterprises. This has helped them towards their missions of “contributing to overcome the structural causes of poverty in Colombia by building a more humane, prosperous and just society”.
Chile: Mary Anne Müller for Fundación Origen and The Escuela Agro-Ecológica de Pirque – a revolutionary educational model taking organic agriculture as the inspiration for the work undertaken with at risk youth from low income families.
South Africa: Taffy Adler for Johannesburg Housing Company – refurbishing occupied buildings and construct new ones to offer affordable, safe housing in the Johannesburg inner city.
Turkey: Mustafa Sari for Nature Observers’ Society – by reversing the extinction of a commercial species of fish Mustafa Sari came up with a new approach to fishery management which he has been using since 1996 in the Lake Van region. As a result of this approach, fishermen have seen their revenues rise from 10% to 60%.
Czech Republic: Vojtech Sedlacek for Agentura ProVas – a venture that incubates projects and businesses that employ disabled individuals; a percentage of whom are employed in highly public areas to increase the awareness of the public and policy makers.
Switzerland: Markus Gander for Infoklick – focuses on promoting activities for children.
The ‘Most Likely To Make The World a Better Place’ Award at the inaugural Crunchies (a start-up flavoured awards cermenony lead by Techcrunch in partnership with Read/Write Web, VentureBeat and GigaOM) went to Donorschoose.
Donorschoose is a US site that highlights the needs of public schools and enables users to donate to help schools get the proper teaching materials and improve the quality of teaching. The concept was started by just one teacher in the public schools of the Bronx back in 2000 when he saw first hand the effects of the inequality of funding and distribution of funds for learning materials.
