The Business Green Economy Award recognises business organisations that provide products, services or programmes that support the growth of the green economy in South Africa.
The following five businesses have been nominated as finalists.
Cape Flats LIFE
Cape Flats LIFE, a local green business and micro NPO operating in partnership with the City of Cape Town Nature Conservation and Friends of Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei, encourages the planting of locally indigenous and endemic flora.
Cape Flats fynbos nursery grows plant species from local veld types, many threatened with extinction. The use of strictly local genetic stock produces plants that are well adapted to the harsh Cape summers, resulting in low maintenance, water-wise gardens.
GreenFin
GreenFin provides alternative and affordable payment options for solar installations. It financed over 100 households to go green in 2015, contributing towards a carbon saving of over 550 000 kWh per year. In 2016 it will start providing tailor made financing solutions to small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs).
GreenTower
Water heating consumes 60% of the electricity in apartment buildings, and millions of litres of potentially useful bathwater – classified as greywater – is wasted.
The unique GreenTower appliance combines water conservation with the best energy efficiency on the market and is affordably priced to achieve payback in 3 years.
Locomute
Locomute offers a membership-based car sharing network that offers short-term access to vehicles. Members have 24/7 access to a network of cars parked at central locations across the city, usually near other transportation and business hubs.
Members locate, reserve and unlock an unattended, self-service vehicle using either their mobile phone or by swiping a membership card over the card reader on the windscreen. Users pay only for kilometres travelled and are billed per hour – fuel, maintenance, insurance and parking are all included in the experience.
Woolworths Good Business Journey
The Woolies Good Business Journey Programme is a formalisation of its sustainability commitments. It spans eight focus areas – water; energy; sustainable farming; waste; transformation; social development; ethical sourcing and health and wellness.
