Environmental Innovator
Sponsored by Invercargill Licensing Trust
Winner - John White (Dairy Farmer).
John White was named Southland's Environmental Innovator for his groundbreaking work in developing improved systems to manage farm dairy effluent.
He has developed the system used by award-winning Balleyhooley Dairies Ltd using a range of locally made components that minimises the risk of failure, error and accident in the management of farm dairy effluent.
John's system uses the best of Southland ingenuity and engineering with the maximum use of local designs and locally made components.
The system is efficient, failsafe, simple and flexible. It involves one pump, two concrete "Hyponds" and a Gator Buddy travelling irrigator. It also has the potential for harnessing the methane gas produced by the stored effluent for future energy use.
The award judges were buzzing when they reviewed this entry – they felt it was the best way they’d seen of minimising the impact that farm dairy effluent has on the environment.
Highly Commended - Fat Hippo Design Group.
Fat Hippo may have a light hearted name but don't be fooled – this business is dead serious about making a high impact on the design of Southland buildings while keeping a low impact on the environment.
Nathan Shearing is modelling environmental sustainability in the way he runs his business and he's influencing other companies to cut back on the amount of paper they generate and switch to sending specs, files and tenders electronically. He communicates in cyberspace but out in the real world, the buildings that Nathan and Martin design are based on sustainability. Energy efficiency, low maintenance and use of environmentally friendly materials are built in to every project.
Other Nominees
BioBugs
BioBugs aims to reduce the impact that farm dairy effluent has on the environment and maximise the benefits that the nutrients can give to pasture. The company offers a management system that adds selected bacteria to dairy effluent to enhance the performance of on-farm storage ponds and improve the quality of effluent when it's sprayed onto paddocks as a fertiliser.
The Clean, Green Effluent Company
The Clean, Green Effluent Company is one of several businesses looking to find better ways of treating farm dairy effluent. Lindsay Lewis has refined the K-line system to allow for very low application rates which enable farmers to continue spraying effluent onto paddocks even during rainfall, avoiding the need for large storage ponds.
Environment Southland is the brand name of Southland Regional Council.