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Isle of Wight Initiatives
 A
recent launch on the Isle of Wight has been the £200,000 SME and
micro-business support project ecoBIZ, supported by the European Social Fund.
It’s the non-tourism, business-focused initiative which provides a
range of free support and auditing services to help companies develop
environmental management systems and improve their environmental performance.
For
further information on ecoBIZ, please contact Kate Harvey on 01983 527333
 The
Green Island Awards is a scheme that is funded and managed through a
partnership of tourism and environmental bodies such as the Isle of Wight
Council, Environment Agency, Isle of Wight Tourism and English Nature.
The Award Scheme is aimed at those organisations on the Island that are
directly involved with the tourist industry;
which accounts for 20-25% of the Island’s economy.
The Award scheme provides certification (Green Island Awards of Gold,
Silver & Bronze) which is reassessed annually; 1-1 Business Support;
Projects looking at an organisation’s infrastructure; Marketing and Research
into what the organisation is offering. The
certification is based on a generic EMS system with 10 core themes such as
waster minimisation, commitment & legislation, wildlife & landscape,
purchasing and innovation.
Issues that have come out of this initiative so far:
the issue of sustainability lacks clarity; wider market failures need to be
addressed – such as good bicycle hire and waste/recycling disposal
facilities; the scheme is very resource intensive and there is a need to
maintain credibility as there are 20 eco labels in Europe currently, so a
general standard for all needs to be set and maintained.
At present there are 35
organisations accredited under the Green Islands Award Scheme, with 50%
achieving the gold standard.
For
further information on the Green Island Awards, please contact Steve Blamire
on steve.blamire@iow.gov.uk or on 01983
823646
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