Tania Ellis was part of the judging panel in the New Hampshire Social Business Innovation Challenge hosted by the University of New Hampshire in September 2013. The competition was called out for contributions that are able to identify pressing social and/or environmental issues at the state, national or global level, and then find an innovative business-oriented approach to solving them.
Along with Tania Ellis in the panel of judges were people such as Greg Van Kirk (2012 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year), Mark Newton (Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability, Timberland), and Jackie VanderBurg (Senior Vice President, US Trust).
The winner of the Community Track of the competition was Agua Inc. which has created a system where contaminated water enters into treatment ponds where it becomes purified through the use of specialized floating plants. Sounds cool? Its is! Check out their winning contribution here:
The Student Track of the competition was won by PLAN (Post-Landfill Action Network), a membership organization that provides student groups on college campuses tools to reduce the amount of reusable items that end up in the landfill through self-sustaining move-out waste reduction programs. To see how easy it can be to develop solutions to reduce waste, check out their video here:
To see more contributions from the competition, check out the full list of finalists here.