By Wezi Tjaronda
WINDHOEK
Namibia Breweries Limited has teamed up with Eco Awards Namibia to form the Eco Media Awards Namibia that will honour outstanding achievements by journalists and media houses that contribute to the advancement of environmental reporting.
For this purpose, the two, who have formed Eco Media Awards Alliance, aim at promoting environmental protection in all areas of Namibian society, as well as environmentally friendly practices.
NBL Manager: Corporate Affairs Gideon Shilongo said at the launch of the award on Wednesday that it was important to sustain the environment and its natural resources for future generations.
“What we use today, we must use it in such a way that we have something for future generations to enjoy,” Shilongo said.
He added that it should be every inhabitant’s responsibility to play a part in looking after the environment and to secure its healthy future.
But, for them to do that, people need to be aware of what is happening in their surroundings through awareness raising, which is also the responsibility of the media.
“We recognise the important role of media institutions in educating society into following good practices and instilling awareness to enhance their knowledge in taking care of their environment,” he said.
Wolfgang Schenk, chairman of Eco Awards Namibia said environmental issues normally do not generate headlines because normally they just create awareness. The awards, he said, will try and motivate journalists to find it interesting to write about the environment and be recognized in the process.
The award has two categories – local and national media houses stationed in Namibia and all writers and editors. All entries to the competition should be submitted by September 30, 2007, with the award ceremony to be held in conjunction with the Hospitality Association of Namibia’s Gala Dinner later in November.
Entries should include articles and documentaries that have been published or broadcast between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007.
The panel to judge the entries will be drawn from the media, Eco Awards Namibia, environmentalists and the NBL.
The awards include three categories with the winner receiving N$5 000. Second and third prize are N$3000 and N$2000 respectively, while the winning media house will be awarded a certificate.
NBL, Namibia’s sole beer producer, concerned about the impact of pollution on the environment is the founder member of Collect A Can Namibia, and also supports the City of Windhoek’s Solid Waste Management competition for secondary schools to encourage them to find alternative uses for recycled material.
It also supports a number of clean-up campaigns throughout Namibia.
The company also uses the Cleaner Production Initiative in its production processes with the use of oil burners instead of coal to generate heat for cleaning and washing bottles, recycling effluent water for cleaning and irrigation and re-using carbon dioxide from the fermentation process to carbonate soft drinks instead of emitting it into the air.