NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 4, 2011) - Green lifestyle website, TheDailyGreen.com, part of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, today announced the winners of its 2011 Heart of Green Awards, honoring the people, places, products and companies that take green to "heart," furthering the cause of bringing "real green to real people." TheDailyGreen.com celebrates Earth Month with the third annual Heart of Green awards, expanded with 18 categories covering everything from best new park to greenest beauty line, from greenest celebrity to local hero. In addition, the first-ever People's Choice winners, selected by The Daily Green audience, are revealed alongside the Editor's picks.
This year's Editor's Choice winners include Matt Damon as the Greenest Celebrity, Jane Goodall for Lifetime Achievement, Nissan Leaf as the Greenest New Car, Method for the Greenest Cleaning Product Line, H&M for the best new sustainable fashion line, New York City as the Greenest City and University of Wisconsin-Madison as the Greenest University. The complete list of Editor's and People's Choice winners for each category are included below.
"The Heart of Green Awards, like TheDailyGreen.com, celebrate the many ways in which going green has become part of our lifestyles," said Dan Shapley, senior editor of TheDailyGreen.com. "Our winners represent some of the breakthrough people, places, products and ideas that are making a real difference in real people's lives. A hearty congratulations to all our nominees, and our very deserving winners."
In selecting this year's Heart of Green Award winners, TheDailyGreen.com's editors considered the nominees' impact over the last year, as well as their success in reaching a mainstream audience with a green message. More than 20,000 votes determined the winners of the first-ever People's Choice Awards. As in years past, readers were also asked to nominate Local Heroes -- "real people making a real difference for the environment" and winners were selected from among 25 nominees.
To further encourage audience engagement, ONE lucky person will be selected at random to receive the ultimate green prize package which will include products from the 2011 Heart of Green winners. For automatic entry, join @the_daily_green and tweet your best green tip using the hashtag #tdgawards. The winning tweet will appear on The Daily Green homepage on Earth Day, April 22, along with a selection of the editor's favorite tips. For further details and updates on the prize package, go to http://www.thedailygreen.com/.
For more information about The Heart of Green Awards visit http://www.thedailygreen.com/awards.
The 2011 Heart of Green Award Editor's Choice winners are:
Lifetime Achievement: Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall has served as a brilliant and passionate voice for conservation and for compassion to animals for five decades. Goodall's groundbreaking research on chimpanzee behavior redefined our relationship with the natural world. And her work through the Jane Goodall Institute and as a UN Messenger of Peace has helped secure protection for critically endangered animals, often across borders and in war zones. Goodall has written many books for adults and children, appears frequently on TV, and her heroic efforts have long inspired millions.
Greenest Celebrity of the Year: Matt Damon
Prolific philanthropist Matt Damon has recently focused much of his energy on clean water. One group he co-founded, H2O Africa, has been confronting that continent's ongoing crisis. Another Damon project, Water.org, combines web 2.0 savvy, micro-loans and star power into a global, action-focused movement that is digging wells, safeguarding supplies and advocating for justice around the world, especially in distressed regions like Haiti. This month, he is hosting and narrating the PBS special Journey to Planet Earth.
Local Heroes: Allison & Jillian Samowitz
In 2010, the 15-year-old twins from Golden Beach, FL founded Proseed2Green with a mission "to develop environmental programs with community participation that will have a positive impact, locally and globally, and that are fiscally responsible." They created a primer with seven basic programs that any small community can emulate and use to bring neighbors together around eco-friendly projects.
Best New Innovation: One Block Off the Grid
San Francisco-based 1BOG (One Block Off the Grid) uses a combination of community organizing, social media and traditional marketing to get homeowners to sign up for solar evaluations. 1BOG then negotiates significant discounts on equipment and labor, and helps users take advantage of tax incentives and understand the intricacies of owning a renewable energy system. Part co-op, part marketer and part motivational speaker, 1BOG is working in many regions, from California to the East Coast to impoverished sections of New Orleans.
Greenest New Car: Nissan Leaf
It's the only mass-market all-electric car on the road, and is designed to travel 100 miles on a full charge, costing the average driver just $560 per year in "fuel" costs -- as low as it gets. Its $32,780 list price may be high for a car its size, but generous federal (and in many cases, state) tax credits help a lot.
Best New Food Trend: "Lofty Produce"
Have you been to a restaurant lately and been served a salad with greens picked directly from the restaurant's roof garden? Then you've eaten lofty produce. It doesn't get much more locally sourced than that.
Greenest City: New York City
Named by the NDRC as a Smarter City for Transportation in 2011 and a Smarter City for Energy in 2010, New York City is following a plan, released by Mayor Bloomberg on Earth Day 2007, to reduce its carbon footprint -- and its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% -- and improve its environs by 2030. PlaNYC encompasses improvements in land, water, transportation, energy, air and climate change impacts. Notable accomplishments in the last year include making Times Square into a pedestrian-friendly causeway, planting thousands of trees and fighting to get hybrid taxis on the streets.
Best New Park: Cahuenga Peak, Los Angeles, CA
The untouched Santa Monica Mountains behind the famous H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D sign were saved in 2010 by a very public and successful Trust for Public Land campaign to prevent development on the 138 acres behind and beside the "H." Cahuenga Peak has been added to 4,100-acre Griffith Park.
Best New Trail: Hudson River Greenway Water Trail, NY
At 256 miles, the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail reaches from New York City all the way to Whitehall, NY in the shadow of the Adirondack Mountains on the Vermont border. Alongside it on land, nearly 500 miles of Greenway trails in more than 100 segments dot the landscape. The 2009 quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's voyage saw a flurry of additions to the trail network, and work continues, with three new water trail sites and eight new trail segments added in the last year.
Greenest Big University: University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
Over the past four years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has invested $48 million in energy-saving projects, resulting in a 16% decrease in greenhouse gases. Thanks to water-saving measures, per capita water use has dropped by 29% since 2005. There's an environmentally oriented dorm, GreenHouse in Cole Hall, and extensive green curricula. The university invests part of its endowment in renewable energy projects.
Greenest Small College: Green Mountain College, VT
Vermont's Green Mountain College was named the greenest school in the nation in 2010 by the Sierra Club's "Coolest Schools" survey, thanks to advancements in its food service, transportation, purchasing, energy and academics. The school also has an innovative new heat and power biomass plant and participates in a local "Cow Power" (waste energy) program. Green Mountain received a score of 98 out of 99 in the Princeton Review's 2011 college green rankings.
Best Natural Beauty Products: Weleda
Weleda gives aging a positive spin with a new pro-aging range of Pomegranate Firming Facial Care for women over 40, which reduces the appearance of wrinkles. Known for its homegrown biodynamic ingredients, Weleda is stocked at Whole Foods and Target, as well as Weleda's Online Shop.
Best Personal Care Products: Dr. Bronner's
Now celebrating its 60th anniversary and five generations of family business, Dr. Bronner's continues to expand beyond its crunchy, counterculture base. There are new products and some updated packaging, but Dr. Bronner's has retained its quirky originality and insistence on purity. A new line is both fair trade and certified under the USDA's National Organic Program. Significantly, the company continues to lead a push for standardizing strict organic standards for the cosmetics industry.
Best New Sustainable Fashion Line: H&M
Known for bringing seasonal trends to the masses, fast fashion retailer H&M is launching the Conscious Collection, a new ongoing collection for women, men and kids made with eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton, organic linen, recycled polyester, and Tencel (a biodegradable cellulose made from wood pulp). The inaugural collection hits stores April 14; prices will range from $10-$60.
Best Green Cleaners: Method
Founded in 2000 by two former roommates and childhood friends, Method is an innovator of premium healthy home and personal care products. Tackling the poor design of most cleaning products and the bad smell and ineffectiveness of many green cleaners, Method's eco-friendly products are made with non-toxic ingredients, clean well, smell good and look hip. The company is built on progressive values, and its products are widely available.
Best Natural Food Line: Clif
Often admired as a model sustainable and socially responsible business, Clif Bars have come off the trail and have gone mainstream. Their lighter Luna bars for women are now available in mini snack sizes, and new Luna Protein ups the fill factor (but is still under 200 calories). There's a natural high-protein Builder's Bar for weightlifters, a sweet and salty treat called Mojo and the new C Bar, made "with only a handful of ingredients." The so-called Clif Family Winery and Farm recently opened in California, with plans for a sustainable vineyard.
Best New Restaurant: Haven, Houston, TX
Southern favorites meet sustainability and sophistication at Haven. Outside the restaurant, owner and chef Randy Evans and his staff compost kitchen scraps and tend to a garden; inside, the restaurant serves its farm-to-table dishes in an eco-friendly setting with green touches like energy efficient lighting and recycled glass and paper products.
Best New Cookbook: Urban Pantry
In Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable and Seasonal Kitchen, Amy Pennington starts with the basics: what you actually need in your tiny pantry and how to organize the little space you've got. Once the kitchen is in order you'll be surprised at how many seasonal, local and healthy dishes you'll be able to whip up with little effort and money. Pennington also helps you tiptoe into some more difficult areas of cooking, like making your own pasta and canning.
The 2011 Heart of Green Award People's Choice winners are:
Bolded names indicate that People's Choice winners are the same as Editor's Picks.
Lifetime Achievement: Jane Goodall
Greenest Celebrity of the Year: Leonardo DiCaprio
Local Hero: Gina Murphy-Darling
Best New Innovation: Good Guide App
Greenest New Car: Lexus CT200h
Best New Food Trend: Lofty Produce
Greenest City: Portland, Ore.
Best New Park: Railroad Park, Birmingham, Ala.
Best New Trail: Hudson River Greenway Trail, NY
Greenest Big University: University of California-Davis
Greenest Small College: Warren Wilson College
Best Natural Beauty Products: Primitive Makeup
Best Personal Care Products: Dr. Bronner's
Best New Sustainable Fashion Line: Zoe&Zac by Payless
Best Green Cleaners: Seventh Generation
Best Natural Food Line: Annie's Homegrown
Best New Restaurant: Haven, Houston, TX
Best New Cookbook: The Family Dinner
The Daily Green, a top five ad-supported green media site and part of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, is a trusted source of "real green for real people." It's a comprehensive source of environmental news, tips, recipe and information about "going green." Earth Day 2011 will mark The Daily Green's fourth anniversary. The site's accolades include a 2007 MIN Best of the Web Award for Best New Website, and a 2010 Best of Green Reader's Choice Award for "Best Blog Covering Environmental Culture."
Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearst's magazine brands and other sites which serve the company's consumer audience. The unit has launched, re-launched or acquired 24 Web sites and 10 mobile sites. Hearst Magazines has published more than 65 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Droid platform.
Hearst Corporation, the parent company of Hearst Magazines, has been at the forefront of raising awareness for and addressing environmental concerns. Among Hearst's accomplishments on the environmental front, the most recognized are building in 2007 the Hearst Tower, the first gold LEED-certified building in New York (honored by Global Green USA); partnering with the State of California, California Rangeland Trust and American Land Conservancy in 2005 to form the largest conservation easement (http://www.hearstranchconservation.org) in history (82,000 acres) in San Simeon, Calif.; and participating in philanthropic tree planning through the National Arbor Day Foundation (www.arborday.org) and New York Restoration Project. Riverkeeper (www.riverkeeper.org), vice chaired by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., honored Hearst in 2007 for its support of the organization.
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Lisa Israel
Hearst Magazines
212.649.2581
lIsrael@hearst.com
Rachel Nagler
Rubenstein Communications
212.843.8017
rnagler@rubenstein.com