The Boardmasters Festival was named overall winner at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards.

Organised by Cornwall Council and The Environment Agency, the awards recognise the people and organisations that are protecting and growing the natural environment of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Boardmasters was selected due to its commitment to make the festival one of the most environmentally conscious and low-impact festivals on the market.

Other winners at the ceremony, which was held at The Headland Hotel in Newquay on Friday night (Nov 30), included organic childrenswear company Frugi, which was named Best Managed Large Business, and St Austell Printing Company, which took the Best Managed Medium Business category.

Hayle-based seafood supplier, Wild Harbour, received the award for Best Contribution to a Sustainable Food Economy, while Rodda’s was recognised for its Contribution to Cornwall’s Brand through Sustainability.

WINNERS

Best Managed Micro Business: Cerenety Eco Campsite

  • Cerenety is an eco-campsite and rescue-animal centre, ran with the help of volunteers. Cerenety aims to be sustainable, educational, fun and encouraging, teaching others through experience and demonstration, thus raising awareness and spreading knowledge. Cerenety impressed the judges with its clear commitment to protecting and growing the natural environment through off-grid holidays in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Best Managed Small Business: ARCO2

  • ARCO2 aims to create and provide the most sustainable properties in the region with sustainability and preservation of the environment at the core of its business. Judges were impressed by how Arco2 are walking the talk themselves – for example its office was built using a multitude of sustainable materials, it has invested in electric vehicles for staff use and have put time and energy towards creating and maintaining their ISO14001 accreditation

Best Managed Medium Business: St Austell Printing Company

  • St Austell Printing Company is a family-run company which embraces the environment and sustainability in everything it does. Judges awarded first place to St Austell Printing Company due to its clear commitment to sustainability through initiatives such as constructing their purpose-built factory, which has been awarded a BREEAM excellent rating, only using paper from recycled or sustainable sources, recycling 100% of its own paper waste, as well as generating its own solar power.

Best Managed Large Business: Frugi

  • Frugi creates bright, durable and fun organic cotton children’s clothes. Frugi is certified by GOTS and the Soil Association meaning it has to adhere to stringent criteria in both its manufacturing and social accountability impact areas. Frugi was chosen by the judges, not only because of its wide ranging environmental initiatives and achievements, but also because of the clear evidence that was provided to show accountability and engagement.

Best Contribution to a Sustainable Food Economy: Wild Harbour

  • Wild Harbour is a specialist supplier of fresh fish and shellfish, with a focus on excellence in the seafood they supply. A family businesses based in Hayle, judges were impressed by Wild Harbour’s commitment to support the local in-shore fishing fleet while encouraging environmental protection in all areas.

Best Contribution to a Sustainable Energy Economy: Low Carbon Society

  • Low Carbon Society manages a loan fund that was established in 2010, as part of a direct response to enabling community owned renewable energy and the transition to a sustainable low carbon economy, whilst empowering our local Cornish communities. £3.25million has been invested enabling over 10,807MWh of clean green community energy, saving 4,451tonnes of Co2e – numbers which really impressed the judging panel.

Best Contribution to Resource Efficiency: Colas

  • Carnsew Quarry in Cornwall is part of the international Colas Group, a world leader in the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure. Its uarry at Carnsew produces high quality granite for the construction industry, as well as asphalt products incorporating recycled material to the local market. Colas impressed the judges with the initiatives that it has implemented to proactively manage the impacts of their quarry, including impressive biodiversity activities, while also ensuring that they manage the impacts of the rest of their footprint, including plant and office buildings.

Best Contribution to the Built Environment: Ward Williams Associates, Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole Architects Limited and Kier

  • The Enterprise Space for Advanced Manufacturing (ESAM) is a new BREEAM Excellent workspace dedicated to growing advanced manufacturing, engineering and low carbon businesses in Cornwall. ESAM is the first phase of the new Carluddon Technology Park, situated within the West Carclaze Eco-Community regeneration initiative. The judges chose this project both because of its impressive environmental credentials as well as its aim to attract and house game-changing advanced manufacturing businesses that have the potential to build a more sustainable future.

Best Contribution to Cornwall’s Brand through Sustainability: Rodda’s

  • Rodda’s barely needs an introduction…started 128 years ago Rodda’s is synonymous with Cornwall today. Rodda’s is the largest clotted cream brand in the UK and is well known internationally. Easily ticking the ‘Brand’ part of the category judges were also impressed by Roddas’s current environmental initiatives as well as their commitment to continued improvement in this area. Existing initiatives that caught the judges eyes included their wetland facility which acts as a waster balancing system as well as a biodiversity builder.

Best Contribution by an Individual: Sue Sayer

  • Since 2000, Sue Sayer has photo identified individual grey seals (Cornwall’s globally rare speciality sentinel species) and can recognise hundreds by eye. In 2004, Sue set up Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust – a well-respected, independent, evidence-based conservation charity inspiring thousands of volunteers to protect seals nationally and internationally. Sue’s long term commitment as well as the positive impact of her work was very clear to the judges.

Best Contribution to Sustainability by Increasing Resilience in the Community: CHAOS Group and Cornwall Food Action

  • The CHAOS Group and Cornwall Food Action work alongside food suppliers to reduce the amount of food sent to landfill. Cornwall Food Action identifies wholesale food waste and CHAOS make collections from super markets. All food is then re-distributed to organisations, vulnerable groups and families in food poverty. What particularly wowed the judges was how CHAOS and Cornwall Food Action are collaborating together to make a greater difference than we could have achieved separately.

Best Contribution to a More Sustainable Tomorrow through Innovation: Build Solar

  • Standard solar technology is limited by the area and its visual impact. Build Solar want to overcome these limitations by incorporating optically integrated solar technologies within the building envelope. The judges could clearly see how its aim to build integrated, affordable, efficient, and attractive solar technologies as part of the building’s architecture with minimal impact on the environment, has the potential to increase uptake of buildings-based solar energy production.

Best Contribution to Environmental Growth through Land Management: National Trust Pentire Head

  • The National Trust’s Land, Outdoors and Nature strategy has set out to restore a healthier, more beautiful natural environment at a landscape scale. Since regaining the land of Pentire Head in 2015, the Trust has put into place a number of great initiatives that are building better, bigger and more joined up wildlife habitats. Members of the public had even written to the Trust to say how pleased they were to see a dramatic increase in birds in the area.

Best Contribution to Reducing Plastic Waste in the Environment (established initiative): Boardmasters

  • Boardmasters brings the very best of surf, music and entertainment all to the backdrop of the stunning Cornish coastline at Watergate Bay. In 2018 Boardmasters tackled plastic waste in a big way – two successful initiatives that caught the judges eyes included their reusable cup scheme that avoided approximately 200,000 single-use cups from entering the waste stream, while their £10 Litter Bond initiative incentivised campers to bag and dispose of their litter correctly.

Best Contribution to Reducing Plastic Waste in the Environment (new initiative): Fishy Filaments

  • Fishy Filaments is the world’s first marine plastics to 3D printing filament recycler. Working closely with Newlyn Harbour they take used commercial fishing gear and transform it into the raw material for cutting edge manufacturing technology. Having recently opened their doors at Newlyn they have already processed a few hundred kilos of waste plastic and their hope is to expand rapidly so they are able to take all of Cornwall’s nylon fishing nets.

Overall Winner: Boardmasters

  • Boardmasters Festival was selected by the judges as Overall Winner – sponsored by The CIOS LEP – due to its commitment to make the festival one of the most environmentally conscious and low impact festivals on the market. By taking an innovative approach Boardmasters engaged over 150,000 festival-goers, predominately young people, with the importance of protecting the natural environment.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR