Norwich and Norfolk Eco Awards

Anyone can apply or nominate someone else for this category.

An eco hero is someone who:

• Values the environment so much that they go the extra mile in everything they do to reduce their negative environmental impact and/or create positive solutions
• Is passionate, enthusiastic and committed to reducing their own, and/or wider society's negative environmental impact
• Tries to be, or already is, a source of inspiration to others to choose sustainable lifestyle choices and more pro-environmental behaviours

Judges will shortlist four potential eco heroes in December and the public will be able to vote for a winner throughout January. So the nominees will have plenty time to drum up lots of support and get as many votes as they can.

A successful eco home should either have been built to be fundamentally environmentally friendly or have been fitted with energy efficiency measures to ensure it has minimal impact on the environment.

As a result, the home should be a healthy place to live and should have lower energy requirements.

Homes entered into this category should be:

• Able to demonstrate their eco-credentials either from design to build stage of new build properties, or by the fitting of energy efficiency measures in older properties
• A real home, so someone should be living there for the majority of the year

Food products entered into this category should be:

• A food product (ie not a cafe/restaurant meal)
• Produced using sustainable practices (eg limited water use, use local/seasonal ingredients)
• Produced in Norfolk
• A celebration of Norfolk-grown or made produce 

Schools should have undertaken eco projects over the past five years and should be able to demonstrate their eco-credentials. Projects could include, but are not limited to:

• Energy efficiency awareness and measures
• Sustainable use of school grounds for wildlife/food production
• A school eco-council, forest school programme, eco school accreditation
• Any other innovative projects that they feel are appropriate

Successful schools will be to demonstrate that concern for the environment and sustainable living is at the heart of all they do.

With thanks to category sponsor Updata for donating new tablet devices to the primary school category winner. 

Community groups should be able to demonstrate their involvement in a project, or projects, which aim to:

• Improve Norfolk’s natural environment by making it a more species-rich place to live, work and play
• Sensitively improve access to a range of Norfolk habitats and raise awareness of their value to a range of species
• Raise awareness of sustainable living, for example by reducing the amount of resources we use to live day-to-day by reducing, reusing or recycling

Groups could include any other innovative projects that they feel are appropriate.

Category sponsor: Recycle for Norfolk

A small/medium Norfolk-based business (max 50 employees) which:

• Reduces the use of the earth’s resources by the nature of its business
• Has eco-values and sustainability principles at the core of its business model and ethos eg through energy reduction, ethical banking, sustainable transport methods, reducing packaging etc.