Tweed Sustainability Awards
Celebrating our sustainability champions
The Tweed Sustainability Awards celebrate champions in our community who are going above and beyond for sustainability in the Tweed.
Sustainability means:
'Balancing environmental, economic and social impacts to satisfy the needs of the present, without affecting future generations’ ability to meet their needs.'
2021 nominations: People's Choice voting
Nominations have been received from across the community to share inspiring stories about people and projects working to protect and enhance our special and beautiful natural environment.
Vote for your favourite Tweed Sustainability Award nomination (one vote only) to show your support for our environmental champions, and help decide this year's People's Choice winner.
Voting ends midnight 31 October 2021.
This year's nominees in the award categories are:
- Regenerative Agriculture: Recognising outstanding contributions to the restoration of soils, waterways and biodiversity in agriculture.
RW Prichard - Soil sustainability and management
Woodland Valley Farm - Regenerative agriculture, multi-species rotational grazing, and riparian and waterway regeneration
Matthew Prichard, Cudgen Road Farms Pty Ltd - Sustainable, climate-friendly sweet potato production on the Cudgen plateau
- Wildlife and Habitat Conservation: Recognising outstanding contributions to the protection and conservation or active management of wildlife and native habitat.
Green Heroes - Protecting marine turtles on the Tweed - incubating/hatching males for the future of marine turtles
Tweed Landcare Inc - Many hands working together for the Tweed environment - restoring habitat and improving landscape connectivity, a soil carbon trial and preventing emerging pest deer establishment
- Tweed Tourism and Hospitality Sustainability: Recognising outstanding contributions by tourism and hospitality operators that demonstrate exceptional commitment to the environment, community and economic development of the region.
Mavis' Kitchen - Zero kitchen waste and packaging, sustainable business and lowest food miles
Tweed Holiday Parks, Kingscliff Beach - Reducing the carbon footprint and global impacts of food waste
- Tweed Sustainability: Recognising outstanding contributions to improved sustainability across multiple impact areas.
Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School (Schools) - Student and organisation initiatives to be sustainability leaders
Agape Outreach Inc (Community groups) - Repurposing food for the homeless and animals
Southern Cross Credit Union (Businesses) - Committing to a healthier future for all in our community with a reduction in paper use, switching to energy-saver lighting and delivering less waste to landfill
Summerland Credit Union (Businesses) - Real sustainability built into everything we do defines our difference
Ari Ehrlich (Adults) - Organising the annual Caldera World Environment Day Festival event
Award winners will be announced at a showcase event on Friday 12 November 2021.
Read about Council's sustainability program.
Free one-day masterclass for nominees
The Joyality Project was born in Northern NSW. Its trained facilitators, adults and young people, will support workshop participants to grow the capacity of existing or new environmental initiatives.
All nominees will be invited to attend a free masterclass. The event will be designed to support and strengthen the network of like-minded environmental champions in the Tweed. Special guest facilitators, The Joyality Project, will guide participants through activities to strengthen their environmental leadership skills, and work together on building and enhancing existing or new environmental projects.
More masterclass information(PDF, 326KB)
2019 Award winners
The nominees at the first Tweed Sustainability Awards on 15 November 2019Our first Tweed Sustainability Awards took place in Murwillumbah in November 2019.
They highlighted a range of environmental champions and activities in the Tweed.
The awards were also created with sustainability in mind, with trophies crafted from reclaimed timber, a 'recycled or local' dress code and food from locally sourced and native ingredients.
Congratulations to all the award winners:
Regenerative Agriculture Category
- Trophy winner
All Natural Meat Co - Judges praised the nominees for incorporating native biodiversity, using chemical-free soil, pasture and animal health techniques and for sharing their progressive farming practices with both locals and people abroad.
- Special Recognition Certificate
Rob and Sue Harnett, Tweed Valley Whey Farmhouse Cheeses
- Special Recognition Certificate
Robert Quirk
Wildlife and Habitat Conservation Category
- Trophy winner
Green Heroes - for their innovative partnerships and environmental education programs for young people, parents and educators to encourage environmental stewardship and wildlife protection.
- Special Recognition Certificate
Team Koala
- Special Recognition Certificate
Bilambil Landcare
Tweed Sustainability Category
- Youth Trophy winner
Josh Carpenter, Tackle Bin Project - for his initiative to trial bait bins at three locations, for gaining funding to install bins at 10 other locations, for partnering with Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers to empty the bins, record data about fishing debris collected and track the number of reduced marine wildlife entanglements.
- School Trophy winner
St Ambrose Student Green Team, for exemplifying student environmental leadership through presentations to assemblies, feature articles in school newsletters and students environmental initiatives throughout the school calendar year and across the campus, gardens and canteen.
- Community Group Trophy winner
Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre - the judges were impressed with the extent that sustainability is embedded into all facets of PBNC’s operations from the induction of volunteers and workers the detailed sustainable design considerations in the development of their new facility, through to their waste reduction and resource recovery programs, renewable energy investments and grounds management to support and enhance local biodiversity and be water efficient.
- Business Trophy winner
Summerland Credit Union: excelled due to the programs in place to reduce environmental impacts across Summerland’s day to day operations, how it builds sustainability into policy positions for its investments, featuring its sustainability commitments in new staff recruitment, eco loans for its customers and grants for the community.
- Adult Trophy winner
Claire Masters - Claire was acknowledged for her immense contribution to her own and her community’s environmental outcomes, her capacity to influence and inspire others, bringing passion and feeling to what she did, building on her own lived experience of strengthening the human connection with nature and supporting others and organisations to do the same.
People’s Choice
Over 1800 votes were received from the community in support of their favourite nominations.
- Regenerative Agriculture
Matthew and Henry Prichard, Cudgen Road Farms Pty Ltd
- Wildlife & Habitat Conservation
Team Koala
- Sustainability – Youth
Alyce Togo
- Sustainability – Schools
Sathya Sai College
- Sustainability – Community Groups
Nature Explorers
- Sustainability – Adult
Claire Masters
- Sustainability – Business
Gary Bagnall, New Leaf Café
Posthumous certificates were presented to the family of Claire Masters in appreciation for Claire’s contribution to the Tweed environment and community.
Lee Smith received a certificate from the Mayor of Tweed in recognition of the late Peter Smith’s commitment to best-practice farming in the Tweed.