Sustainia unveils top-ten innovators

Under two weeks remain for the public to vote for the best sustainable innovation from a shortlist of ten with the winner being honoured at an award ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sustainia, a community of companies, NGOs and academics which promotes sustainable development, unveiled the shortlist having whittled down over 500 nominations. Innovations include intelligent streetlights that dim when streets are empty, a piece of paper that reduces food waste and a 250-kilometre range electric bus.

“The 10 projects showcase that the green transformation of our societies has come a long way,” said Erik Rasmussen, founder of Sustainia. “The challenge is that most projects are unknown to the public. Sustainia’s mission is to create a platform for the best sustainable solutions from around the world in order to ensure awareness and deployments on a global scale.”

Representing innovations deployed in more than 90 countries, the finalists hail from 10 different sectors: buildings, food, cities, transport, energy, health, IT, fashion, education and resources. Organisers emphasise that the top-10 projects showcase available solutions already in practice that have the potential to transform businesses, cities and industries.

The finalists will also be the pool of contenders for the 2013 Sustainia Award chaired by former Governor of California and founder of R20-Regions of Climate Action, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other jury members include the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, former Danish Prime Minister ,Gro Harlem Brundtland, and EU Commissioner ,Connie Hedegaard. They will select the recipient of the award to be announced at a formal ceremony on 7 November in Copenhagen.

“The Top-10 Sustainia projects reflect innovative approaches that can lead to more sustainable industries,” said Dr Pachauri. “Hopefully, they will inspire more businesses to take green practice to heart. It is not an easy choice to select one but I’m looking forward to presenting a Sustainia Award winner in Copenhagen.”

Top-10 sustainability solutions:

Best solution for buildings: Liter of Light – Bottling sunlight for off-grid housing (Philippines)

Best solution for cities: Tvilight – Intelligent streetlights (Netherlands)

Best solution for transport: BYD – Electric city bus with 250-kilometre range (China)

Best solution for IT TaKaDu – Big Data solution increasing water network efficiency and reducing water loss (Israel)

Best solution for food: Fenugreen – Reducing food waste with a piece of paper (US)

Best solution for fashion: Neutral.com – Sustainable fashion from top-certified production (Denmark)

Best solution for energy: Veolia, Dalkia & Borås – Renewable energy storage in hot water reservoirs (Sweden)

Best solution for education: iFixit – Repair manuals give new life to broken devices (US)

Best solution for health: CIDRZ – Electronic Cervical Cancer Control (Zambia)

Best solution for resources: Mazuma Mobile – Cash-back for your mobile phone (UK)