GOLD
Kent Wildlife Trust & Wildwood Trust: The Wilder Blean Project
The Wilder Blean Project is changing the face of UK conservation, using giant herbivores as a nature-based solution to the biodiversity and climate crises. Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world ranking 189 of 215 countries surveyed for biological intactness. The country faces ‘ecological meltdown’ and traditional conservation methods require reform to reverse the trend.
The solution – bison, they are eco-system engineers reshaping habitats, creating light and space for nature to thrive.
At the Wilder Blean Project, the first free-roaming bison herd are changing the landscape, providing a nature-based solution to traditional woodland management.
SILVER
Octopus Energy, Kraken & National Grid: Saving Sessions: Paying customers to enable a smarter greener grid
In 2022 Octopus Energy created the pioneering ‘Saving Sessions’ in partnership with National Grid’s ‘Demand Flexibility Service’. The aim was to engage smart meter customers via financial incentives and education to reduce grid load at busiest times, which, in turn, would cut energy costs and pollution. 700K Octopus customers took part in 13 sessions and became THE most engaged and active of all ‘Demand Flexibility Service’ suppliers, achieving 1.86GW grid flexibility (50% of total), saving £5.3m on their bills and avoiding 430 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, whilst proving that coal isn’t necessary to balance peak energy demand.
ONE TO WATCH
Xampla & Gousto: Packaging Good Enough to Eat
Xampla creates high-performance, drop-in replacements for polluting plastics. Using its breakthrough, natural core resin material, it has developed a range of new product innovations, including edible films.
Brought to market with meal kit company Gousto, Xampla created the world’s first edible stock cube wrapper to replace single-use plastic sachets while giving consumers an exciting new product experience. Replacing non-recyclable plastic films this never seen before technology is made just from plant proteins – meaning consumers can actually eat their packaging.
Working seamlessly with existing industry machinery and processes, Xampla’s scalable innovation has unlocked the next-generation of alternative materials.