Top Green Organisation Awards open for entries

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Companies can enter online before 30 August 2014 to stand a chance of not only walking away with one of the most prestigious green titles in the country, but also showing the rest of South Africa the province's green mettle.

All Eastern Cape organisations stand a chance of being recognised for their green contributions and categories include small, medium, micro enterprises, municipalities, provincial and national government departments as well as non-government organisations.

Aim of competition

The Top Green Organisation Awards is aimed towards recognising and showcasing the achievements of organisations that comply with legislation governing broad environmental management compliance and green economy initiatives. "It is a wonderful opportunity for winners to demonstrate their innovation in environmental management," says Sakhumzi Somyo, member of the executive council at the DEDEAT.

The entrants will be short-listed and audited from September to October by professional members of the DEDEAT and the IWMSA to determine who the winners are. Finalists will also receive a detailed report outlining the findings from the audit and site visit. The winners will be announced at a gala banquet at the end of November.

"The Eastern Cape Top Green Organisation Awards is a great platform for us as a province to showcase the responsible environmental management practices in the Eastern Cape. This is very much in line with the provincial goals and efforts to develop capabilities and demonstrate leadership as the hub of green economy," says Somyo.

Quality of life

"We are very excited to be working with the DEDEAT on this programme," says Dr Suzan Oelofse, president of the IWMSA. "We believe it will gear all residents to the continual improvement of the quality of life in the Eastern Cape. The IWMSA's KwaZulu-Natal branch is already involved in a similar project and we are looking into rolling this very successful project out to the rest of the country as well."

Entrants are advised to submit any supporting information to assist in the review. This information can range from the company's waste management or environmental policy statements and projects undertaken to address environmental management and cost savings.