This year will mark the tenth anniversary of the awards, and as such they have been expanded.
Go to greening.mg.co.za to nominate. Nominations close on 3 May.
Companies, parastatals, nongovernmental organisations, schools, institutions and individuals are all invited to join in the celebration of the Greening Decade by showcasing success stories that have made the world a better place.
Categories include business, nonprofit organisations, water management, energy efficiency and carbon management, innovation in renewables, and schools and institutions.
New categories that have also been added to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the awards include future leaders, rhino rescue, community conservation, and biodiversity stewardship.
Two supplements to the weekly newspaper are published for the awards. The first is on April 12 and will discuss the awards, invite further applications and talk about other greening topics.
The second one will come out on July 5 and will announce the winners. This coincides with a gala evening where the awards are handed out with the who’s who of the green world in attendance.
The awards are adjudicated by an independent panel of industry leaders. Their insight and knowledge has ensured that the awards are not used by companies to merely green-wash, but that they have to prove that their activities are sustainable and based on sound reasoning.
Fiona Macleod, founder of the awards, said, “The goal of Greening the Future was to recognise and reward good business practices aimed at investing in the environment.”
They were launched soon after the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the release of the second King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, she said. This has aimed the awards at spotlighting environmental performance in the “triple bottom line” approach to corporate success, she said.
“Over the years Greening the Future has succeeded in bringing to public attention the sterling efforts of hundreds of projects that demonstrate leadership and innovation,” she said. It has also served as a vehicle for shaping policy orientation and disclosure of environmental governance, she said.
“Winning a Greening the Future Award has become the stamp of integrity, authority and respectability,” she said.