Kesko’s awards to six promoters of sustainable development

Kesko’s awards for sustainable development were distributed today in Helsinki.The biggest award was granted to eco-efficiency consultant Michael Lettenmeier.Six awards were granted and they totalled EUR 20,000.There were 39 applicants, including non-governmental organisations, voluntary and municipal organisations engaged in recycling and environmental education, educational establishments, researchers, journalists and individual people who have distinguished themselves as promoters of sustainable development.

Awards

A EUR 6,000 award was granted to eco-efficiency consultant Michael Lettenmeier from Asikkala.

A EUR 4,000 award went to Raini Kiukas from Tampere, a founding member of the Global Dry Toilet Club of Finland who has promoted the dry-toilet technology, and to Kestovaippayhdistys, an association that promotes the use of reusable nappies, from Helsinki/Riihimäki.

EUR 2,000 awards were granted to the Hollola Upper Secondary School, the ice-hockey club Juniori-Kalpa from Kuopio and the Local Agenda of the Residents of Jyväskylä, JAPA (Jyväskylän Asukkaiden Paikallisagenda JAPA ry).

The jury consisted of representatives of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development, WWF Finland, the Finnish UN Association, the Confederation of Finnish Industries and Kesko.

As in previous years, the jury valued work done for children, young people and young families.Kesko wanted to give particular credit to voluntary work, which meant that for paid work to be awarded, the normal standard had to be exceeded by a large margin.The idea was to award prizes to parties that promote sustainable consumption and have not received recognition from elsewhere.When determining the sums awarded, the extent of the activities and financing from other sources were taken into account; the sums granted do not thus necessarily reflect any ranking order.

Additional information on the activities and merits of the awardees is attached.

This is the fifth time Kesko has granted awards for sustainable development – the total number of awardees is 32.Kesko has worked systematically for environmental protection and sustainable development and has been recognised for its achievements in many ways.Likewise, it wants to recognise other promoters of sustainable development by granting awards and thus give their work publicity.

Further information:
Jouko Kuisma, Senior Advisor/Corporate Responsibility, Kesko Corporation, Tel.+358 1053 23140 or
+358 50 5143 043, jouko.kuisma@kesko.fi

ATTACHMENT:

KESKO’S 2006 AWARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Eco-efficiency consultant Michael Lettenmeier, Asikkala (EUR 6,000)

Michael Lettenmeier has promoted sustainable development, waste prevention, eco-efficiency and dematerialisation since the early 1990s in many ways both as paid and voluntary work.He has worked in co-operation with dozens of enterprises, many educational and research institutes, local and other authorities and non-governmental organisations, carrying out projects and training programmes, giving lectures, generating publications and studies and supervising group work.

Lettenmeier specialises in the calculation of material consumption with the Material Input Per Service Unit, or MIPS, method, which can be used to monitor and decrease material consumption.He has guided more than one thousand people in companies and educational establishments in the implementation of eco-efficiency and the calculation of MIPS and has supervised the Master’s theses or final projects of approximately 20 university or polytechnic students.Lettenmeier teaches regularly at the University of Helsinki, the University of Art and Design Helsinki and the Turku University of Applied Sciences.He has, either alone or in co-operation with others, written, edited and translated several publications on waste prevention, eco-efficiency and the consumption of natural resources.

Further information: Michael Lettenmeier, Tel. +358 40 5412 876, m.l.@iki.fi

Raini Kiukas, Tampere (EUR 4,000)

Raini Kiukas has promoted the water supply, sewerage, waste management and water protection of unsewered areas in Finland all her adult life.She has developed the dry toilet, or DT, technology, a special biotechnology sector that generates microbiological, logistical, building services and other solutions required to recycle nutrients.

Kiukas is a founding member and the secretary of the Global Dry Toilet Club of Finland.The association works to guarantee a healthy living environment, the supply of clean water, an efficient nutrient cycle and an equal right for everyone to safely use a hygienic toilet.The association’s activities have expanded rapidly and grown into a project organisation that is about to join the Pirkanmaa Environmental Cluster.The association has prepared educational material, influenced legislation regulating the sector and launched development co-operation projects (a three-year Zambia project).The association is currently preparing the second International Dry Toilet Conference and Exhibition, which will be held in Tampere from 16–19 August 2006.Kiukas is responsible for the content of the Finnish seminar day of the conference.

Further information:
Raini Kiukas, Tel. +358 50 5722 257, sihteeri@huussi.net
Asta Rajala (Chairperson of the association), Tel.+358 400 836 493, asta@viestintaok.net
www.huussi.net, www.drytoilet.org

Kestovaippayhdistys ry, Helsinki / Riihimäki (EUR 4,000)

Kestovaippayhdistys, an association that promotes the use of reusable nappies, was established in Helsinki in 2004.At the end of 2005, it had more than 500 individual members and almost 70 corporate members, most of which are micro-companies run by women.The association distributes information on modern reusable nappies and provides related peer support to the personnel and customers of pre- and postnatal health centres and maternity hospitals, organises courses and discusses the nappy culture in the media and other forums.The association maintains 20 activity groups throughout Finland, which participate in fairs and other events and organise presentations, campaigns, courses, etc.The association has published a magazine and a purchase guide; most of the communication takes place through the association’s web pages.

Disposable nappies are the biggest single source of domestic waste relocated in landfill sites.A child requires approximately 5,000 disposable nappies over the time he or she is in nappies; this means that 250,000 disposable nappies are used in Finland in one year.Each child generates 1,500 kg of nappy waste.Disposable nappies may take up to 500 years to disintegrate.The number of reusable nappies required by a child is 30 to 50, and the same nappies can be recycled from one child to another.Even reusable nappies burden the environment, for example, in cotton production and when nappies are washed, but the strain on the water system is minimal in areas with waste water treatment plants.

Further information:
Chairperson of the association Mikko Helin, Tel.+358 44 5420 278, mikko@kestovaippayhdistys.fi, www.kestovaippayhdistys.fi

Hollola Upper Secondary School (EUR 2,000)

The Hollola Upper Secondary School carried out its first ecological stocktaking in the early 1990s,and the practice has since continued as an integral part of instruction.In 1997–1998, the school cascaded sustainable development practices to the lower and upper levels of the comprehensive school in Hollola by training teachers.In 2001 and 2003, the state of the school’s environment was monitored during winter ecology courses in connection with international activities.In 2004 and 2005, the pupils examined and observed the condition of a nearby lake in co-operation with upper secondary schools from Lahti during the Lake Vesijärvi courses.

During the school year 2004–2005, the entire school community implemented a KKKKK (one month at a time towards sustainable development) project, which covered all sectors of sustainable development with themes that changed every month.The school year 2005–2006 was spent carrying out the development work and documentation required for the environmental certificate for schools.The certification should be completed by the summer.The school also participated in the launching of the environmental programme for the Salpausselkä Ski Games (1996–1998) and the three-year environmental programme for the Lahti 2001 World Ski Championships.

Further information:
Principal Kimmo Laitinen, Tel.+358 44 7801 248, kimmo.laitinen@hollola.fi

Juniori-Kalpa ry., Kuopio (EUR 2,000)

Juniori-Kalpa is a junior ice hockey club that belongs to the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and has been awarded the status of a Seal Club for its high-quality sports activities provided to children and young people. The club operates in Kuopio and surrounding areas, and has approximately 950 players aged 3 to 18.Since 2003, the club has nominated a person who is responsible for environmental matters.Sustainable development is implemented, for example, by travelling to ice hockey practices by car pool and to matches by chartered bus, by using washable drink bottles and by delivering broken sticks to be reused as support structures for berry shrubs and dog agility obstacles.

The ice rink company owned by the club sorts all waste, uses cheaper-rate night electricity and re-circulates the heat from the refrigerating compressors to preheat service water.The R404 refrigerant is used in the ice rink as it causes the least strain on the environment, compared with all other available solutions, and the ice resurfacing machine is battery-operated.In addition to ice hockey instruction, the club teaches young people both to live a healthy lifestyle and take environmental matters into consideration.

Further information:
Contact Manager Seija Tiilikainen, Tel.+358 440 540 810, seija.tiilikainen@dnainternet.net

Jyväskylän Asukkaiden Paikallisagenda JAPA ry (EUR 2,000)

The JAPA Association was established in Jyväskylä in 2000 to carry out the Local Agenda 21 action programme.The association has initiated environmental education projects, campaigns and events and published an environmental journal on sustainable development, member bulletins and a JAPA book called “Kestävän kehityksen jäljillä” (“On track to sustainable development”).Energy expert training has been organised to residents, who have then worked as volunteer experts in matters related to the saving of heat energy, electricity and water for household use in residential buildings.Pilot environmental expert training has also been organised.

Residents are members of JAPA through the residents’ associations to which they belong.The city’s various administrative sectors have utilised JAPA’s channels, and interaction between the city and its residents has become more active.JAPA has organised many events:it has cleaned the shores of Lake Jyväsjärvi, conducted campaigns aimed at destroying giant hogweed plants, organised a mugwort-plucking competition and an ecological action competition, mobilized waste and environmental advisors for residential areas, etc.The idea has been to take concrete actions in order to make sustainable development approachable and a part of everyday life for residents.

Further information:
Executive Director Kari Lehtinen, Tel. -358 14 626 646, kari.lehtinen@jkl.fi, www.jyvaskyla.fi/japa