News.com.au Launches 2009 Green Awards

News.com.au Launches 2009 Green Awards

David Higgins, editor of news.com.au, today announced the launch of the 2009 Green Awards.

The news.com.au Green Awards recognise and celebrate everyday Australians tackling the environmental challenges facing our country and the world through clever, adaptable innovations.

Mr Higgins said the awards were coming at a crucial time for all Australians.

“A news.com.au survey carried out for the 2009 Green Awards found that with the current economic crisis, the environment has become less of a priority for some Australians.

 “But while the economy will recover, the effects of climate change are often irreversible. “The news.com.au Green Awards aim to identify quiet achievers working behind the scenes to limit the impact of climate change.

 “We encourage readers to get involved by nominating everyday people with novel approaches or clever, practical measures that can be adopted at home, work or in the local community.”

This year Toshiba has donated more than $30,000 in prizes.

The winners of each of the categories* and the overall People’s Choice winner will receive a Toshiba Portégé R600, the world’s ‘greenest’ notebook according to the Greenpeace Green Electronics Survey 2008.

Toshiba’s lightest notebook is ENERGY STAR® 4.0 compliant, and features a LED backlit display and the latest CPU.

There is also an option for a Solid State Drive (SSD) as a storage medium that results in low energy consumption and long battery life, further reducing its environmental impact.

The news.com.au Green Award categories are:

• The news.com.au Green Hero award
• The news.com.au Junior Green Hero award
• The news.com.au Green Invention award
• The news.com.au Green Town award
• The news.com.au Green Scientific Breakthrough award
• The news.com.au Green business award
• The news.com.au Environment 2.0 award
• The news.com.au Australian Solution award
• The news.com.au Green Household award
• The news.com.au Can Do Better citation

 (please see attached media release for full descriptions of the each of the categories)

Former Miss Universe Australia and TV presenter Erin McNaught, joined the singer Kate Miller-Heidke, and other high-profile Australians to help launch the awards in an online video appearing on news.com.au.

“Everyday Australians have faced up to some tough times this year. But the global threat of climate change is still our greatest challenge.

 “We want you to help us find and reward the best that Australians are doing in tackling the biggest challenge of our generation.”

The shortlist of four in each category will be selected by senior editors at news.com.au.

Determining the category winner will be a panel comprising:

• Climate change expert, Professor Barry Brook, from the University of Adelaide
• Dr Tony Wilkins, Manager, Environment and Climate Change for News Limited
• news.com.au editor, David Higgins
• news.com.au readers

Readers can nominate themselves or someone they feel deserves the recognition by using the entry form on news.com.au.

Nominations for the news.com.au Green Awards open today and close at 5pm AEST on 24 July 2009.

Finalists will be announced on 17 August 2009. Winners will be announced on 7 September 2009.

For more information on the news.com.au Green Awards, visit: http://www.news.com.au/greenawards.

* All categories except the ‘Can do Better’ category