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P.E.A. Awards 2018

Environmental superheroes revealed at the UK's first festival awards ceremony
Jarvis Smith at the PEA Awards 2018

Featured in our autumn ’18 issue of MyGreenPod Magazine, The Consumer Revolution, distributed with the Guardian on 16 Nov 2018. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox

As the sun blazed down on an organic farm overlooking Chew Valley Lake in Somerset, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and a host of sidekicks gathered to hear the winners of the P.E.A. (People. Environment. Achievement.) Awards 2018, in association with Octopus Energy.

The event – the UK’s first festival awards ceremony – attracted green pioneers and sustainability champions from across the UK and Europe. They gathered at Valley Fest’s Barnstormer Stage to enjoy local organic food, sustainable drinks, top-class music and find out who had bagged a coveted P.E.A. Award for the work they’re doing to change the world.

SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE

From bamboo loo roll pioneers to champions of wonky fruit and veg, the coveted awards went out to superheroes who have dedicated their lives to leading transformational change in sectors ranging from arts to money. As a result of the winners’ work, festivals are going plastic free, women and girls suffering from domestic abuse are being healed through nature and reusable coffee cups are getting greener.

Surfers Against Sewage was the charity partner for 2018’s P.E.A. Awards, and chief executive Hugo Tagholm took to the stage to remind the audience of the importance of beach cleans and the refusal of single-use plastics.

Guests embraced this year’s ‘Superheroes’ theme; they gathered on the land in Superman costumes and Batman wings, and cooled off with a pint or two of Bison Beer, Bread Board Beer from Iceland’s leftover bread and cooling G&T, courtesy of Juniper Green Organic Gin.

PJ Kombucha and Luscombe soft drinks were also available, and food was provided by the fabulous Yeo Valley Canteen. A new partner for 2018’s P.E.A. Awards was Burges Salmon, the Bristol-based independent UK law firm.

The bespoke P.E.A. Award trophies were, for the second year running, created by the incredibly talented Katie Weiner.

A GREEN CELEBRATION

2018’s P.E.A. Awards took place as part of Valley Fest, the most spectacular organic feast the UK has to offer. The family-friendly festival is an explosion of colour (and glitter) that celebrates arts, music, play, top-notch food and great entertainment. At the same time, everyone gets closer to nature and has the opportunity to see how an organic farm, which overlooks an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, operates.

After the event, guests took away goody bags packed with natural and organic products from Weleda; those who had chosen to stay for the weekend festival could camp in luxury, and those who had to leave could take a touch of organic goodness home with them.

2018 P.E.A. AWARDS WINNERS

ARTS, sponsored by MyGreenPod.com
Idle Women
In partnership with Humraaz support services (which provides specialist support to BME women who are experiencing domestic abuse and harmful traditional practices), this artist-led organisation creates inspired, vibrant and adventurous spaces with women and girls, helping them to grow by being outdoors, active and connected to nature.

ENERGY, sponsored by Octopus Energy
myenergi team
The zappi from myenergi is a British- made eco-smart EV charger. It’s the first on the market to use solar power to charge an electric vehicle for free using green energy.

FOOD, sponsored by Wyke Farms
Maciek Kacprzyk, Get Wonky
This sustainable drinks company makes fruit juices out of wonky fruit and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. It’s saved 150 tonnes of wonky produce to date and is on track to meet its target of saving 600 tonnes by January 2019.

GREEN PIONEER, sponsored by Weleda
Chris Johnson, Kambe Events
Chris co-founded Shambala festival 17 years ago; the event now has a global reputation for its pioneering sustainability strategies. It’s powered by renewables and single-use plastics have been eliminated. 80% of recyclable materials at the festival are recycled. The majority of the loos are compost and radical low-carbon travel plans have been introduced. Chris also co-wrote The Plastic Free Festivals guide.

BRITAIN’S GREENEST FAMILY, sponsored by Yeo Valley
Jo Wood, the organic goddess
Jo Wood has a luxurious range of organic body care products and is a vocal and active advocate of organic living. On top of that her son, Ty Wood, is the founder of Project 0, which raises huge sums of money to finish ocean projects all over the world that have stalled due to a lack of support. Jo’s brother, Paul Karslake, is a fine artist who illustrates how beauty can be made instantly repugnant as a result of discarded plastics and waste.

MONEY, sponsored by Mongoose Crowd
Hove Trinity Trust
This trust has been set up to help Hove Deanery achieve both its ambition and mission by establishing a Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) to provide parishes with funding for completion of community-focused, socially and environmentally rewarding projects.

NATURE
Rosewood Farm team

Rosewood Farm’s flexible and innovative approach to land management includes being the first farm in the UK to commercially operate a high intensity, low frequency grazing system. This method mimics the way herds of wild grazing herbivores move across the landscape, allowing the cattle to remain in tune with the semi-natural grasslands on which they depend without artificial inputs.

PRODUCT
Richard Milton, Huskup

Huskup is a new reusable coffee cup that uses an abundant waste material – the humble rice husk. Durable and dishwasher safe, it’s entirely free from plastic, trees, BPA and melamine. This unassuming little cup is setting a new bar for the UK’s eco-friendly caffeine fix.

Chris Forbes, The Cheeky Panda
The Cheeky Panda is the UK’s first 100% bamboo tissue company and the UK’ s first brand to be 100% FSC certified. Bamboo is the world’s fastest-growing and most sustainable plant; it grows up to 1 metre a day, meaning 1 acre of bamboo produces the same yield as 30 acres of trees.

TOURISM
Tamara Amadu, Delphina Hotels & Resorts

Delphina Hotels & Resorts has become the first Italian hotel group to use entirely green and renewable energy across its entire portfolio. This allows the hotel group to save 3,536 tonnes of CO2 each year. The luxurious properties are built into the landscape and integrated with the region’s indigenous plants and trees. The use of locally sourced materials means Delphina has helped to regenerate centuries-old artisanal trades and skills in the area.

TRANSPORT
Jonathan Porterfield, Eco Cars

Eco Cars sources EVs to order and will deliver them anywhere in the UK from its humble base in Orkney. In the process, Jonathan has driven all makes and models of EV the length and breadth of the country, including from Land’s End to John O’Groats with Chris Ramsey of Plug In Adventures, showing that even older EVs with smaller batteries are remarkably versatile on cross-country journeys.

VEGAN
Tim Barclay, Purezza

Purezza (which means ‘purity’ in Italian) was the UK’s first entirely vegan pizzeria. It opened in Brighton in 2015, and launched a second branch in Camden, London in March 2018. It’s famed for using its own plant-based cheeses with alternatives to ricotta and mozzarella made with organic brown rice milk and coconut oil.

SUPERHERO
Richard Walker, Iceland

Iceland is setting new standards for supermarkets under the stewardship of its MD, the surf-loving environmentalist Richard Walker. Iceland was the first supermarket to go plastic free with its own-brand products; the chain’s now trialling a deposit return scheme and even offering customers the choice of a palm oil-free Christmas.

2018 P.E.A. AWARDS SHORTLIST

ARTS
Clive Adams, Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World
Lucy Tammam, Atelier Tammam

ENERGY
Duncan Law
, Brixton Energy

FOOD
Suma Wholefoods
River Cottage

Tim O’Hara and Robin Nunes, Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica

GREEN PIONEER
Mukti Mitchell
, Mitchell & Dickinson Ltd
Andy Hall, Anglo Recycling Technology
Alexis Percival, Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Angelika Davenport, TINCTURE London
Claire O’Neill, A Greener Festival
Richard Mehmed, National Community Wood Recycling Project

NATURE
James Horseford, Pennine Community Farm
Ella Daish, Plastic Free Period campaign
Ty Wood, Project 0

PRODUCT
Paul Owen, Eco Action Games
Jamie Bolton-Debbage, Wilby Clutch
Silvia Silva, Corkor
Martin Howitt, Scrummi & Scrummi Spa
Jo Wood, Jo Wood Organics

VEGAN
Jamie Bolton-Debbage, Wilby Clutch
Joe Hill, One Planet Pizza
Tabitha James Kraan, TJK hair products

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