Find Earth Hour In Your Country
As the lights of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House switched off for Earth Hour 2011, the city where Earth Hour began back in 2007 played host to the inaugural Earth Hour Awards.
Initiated by WWF Australia, the Earth Hour Awards were a celebration of inspiring stories of sustainable action by individuals and organisations.
The People’s Choice Award went to Point Preschool for their fun and proactive program to educate their students and local community on sustainable living, including an annual Sustainability Expo, now in its fifth year, that enables this next generation of decision makers to present their knowledge of sustainable lifestyle choices to the current one.
The Workplace Champion Award was presented to Ben Grimshaw of the Hilton Hotel Sydney for his continued efforts in pursuing sustainable business practices for the hotel. Ben has since been promoted to Regional Sustainability Coordinator to oversee the implementation of the Hilton Worldwide sustainability policy across all Hilton hotels in Australia.
But perhaps the most inspiring story was that of Burr Dodd and Lolo Houbein who received the Lifetime Achievement Award for their tireless work with the volunteer organisation Trees for Life, which over the past 30 years has been responsible for the plantation of an astonishing 30 million native tree seedlings!
Now that’s what we call going well beyond the hour.
(Image copyright AV1 2011)
