31 January 2012

Oh, what a night. Celebrating green business

Last Thursday, 26 January, was night of celebrations for Friends of the Earth.

We were the charity partner of the PEA Business Awards, held at The Orangery at Kensington Palace (quite a nice place). It started with Joe Jenkins, our Director of Fundraising Communications and Activism giving a few words and sharing the serious messages of environmentalism through the wise words of Tim Minchin on video.

Personally, I was inspired by Deborah Meaden's speech - which made the question of sustainable business really quite simple: as a business leader, why wouldn't you do it? Building a sustainable business is a sure way to ensure longevity and a competitive advantage in the long run, quite apart from leaving a healthy planet for future generations.

A key feature of the evening for us was our high-value raffle which certainly created a buzz. Prizes were generously donated by Vinceremos Organic Wines, Eco-Consultancy and River Cottage and all the proceeds from the raffle will help fund our vital campaigning work.

Crucially, Friends of the Earth made some new friends at the awards - individuals and green businesses that could be key to helping us achieve our goals. Meeting business leaders from companies as varied as Eurostar, Triodos Bank, Ecotricity and John Lewis was a great opportunity for us.

After the awards, we headed up the road to join Friends of the Earth's 40th birthday party. With live music and more than 600 people who've worked for and with Friends of the Earth over the past 40 years, it was a really great party.

But more than that, it demonstrated that while we were making new links at the business awards, we already have a huge network of passionate and influential supporters.

Now it's time to bring those networks and energy together to help us deliver the scale of change that we need for the planet.

Beth Dawson, Business Development team

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