All nominiees:

Nominee I

Submitted by: Micronesia Eco Inc.
Nation: Federated States of Micronesia
Project: Recycling project brings environmental protection and additional income for island inhabitants

Recycling island

Micronesia is an idyllic island paradise with a few flaws in its beauty. The islands’ wastes are either deposited at a landfill, exported, or all too often simply dumped into the sea. Plastic bottles, aluminum cans and even auto batteries are disposed in this way. Maria Stephens wanted to do something against her home becoming a garbage dump. Furthermore, why should raw materials be thrown away? “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” was her motto as she accepted this challenge and developed a recycling system in cooperation with Micronesia Eco Inc. for the island Kosrae. Now waste is collected and sold as valuable raw material – a win/win situation for the island and its population.

A special recycling option was found for the waste glass: It is ground and added to concrete to make shoreline stabilization structures more robust than with concrete alone. Another advantage for the environment is that the energy for treating the wastes comes exclusively from solar sources.

Maria Stephens, mother of a two-year old, cites the motivation for her work: “I take care of our environment, I take care of the others, so I take care of myself.”

Nominee II

Submitted by: Flora Marketing Co. Ltd.
Nation: Mauritius
Project: Seeds of hope

Seeds of hope

Felled trees, bare land: Large areas of Mauritius have been recklessly deforested. 83% of the forests were cleared in the last 30 years, primarily for the purpose of cooking fuel. On a visit to Madagascar in 1994, Vinah Ganoo discovered the beauty of nature and its rich biological heritage. Simultaneously she was deeply moved by the desperation and hopelessness of the poor population. According to the principle of “Think and act”, she founded Flora Marketing with the goal of fighting poverty and promoting reforestation.

Today some 2500 farmers in 500 villages work for Flora Marketing: They produce and sell seeds and thereby earn more than previously with deforestation. Meanwhile more than 500 plant species are exported. Vinah Ganoo is pleased at the success of her initiative: “My satisfaction is having planted more than 100 million plants in more than 45 countries.“ New jobs, income for whole families, and more green space on our planet make for a successful project.

Nominee III

Submitted by: GIWOG AG
Nation: Austria
Project: Passive house standard and comfort through renovation

House of the future

Old buildings can be real energy hogs and an ecological nightmare. “There must be a better way,” thought Georg Pilarz, Alfred Willensdorfer and Johann Aschauer. They pondered how to make an energy wonder out of an old, energy wasting building while assuring high comfort and low costs. On a cold winter day Johann Aschauer had an inspiration: “I was so fascinated by the warmth of the sun’s rays on my skin that I had the idea of heating with light. The idea was implemented with a special solar façade. The secret resides in the special cellulose webbing that resembles a honeycomb: The low-lying winter sun penetrates the honeycomb structure and heats it, while the high summer sun creates cooling shadows. Thus the solar façade achieves a year-round perfect climate zone and thereby collects enough energy to provide hot water. A large storage tank ensures that the heat is available when it is needed; on demand, a secondary ground heat pump system is available. A ventilation system with heat recovery provides hygienic fresh air.

GIWOG AG is proud of the project, which passed its trial by fire last winter: The required heating energy and the associated CO2 emissions dropped to 10% of previous values! This serves as a model for millions of old apartment buildings and is an environmentally friendly prototype.