Ideas Fund Green – Winners

Back in summer we launched the first Ideas Fund Green (£5,000 for eight eco ideas). The judges, including National Youth Theatre’s creative director Paul Roseby and communications manager for The Wildlife Trusts UK, Adam Cormack, were thoroughly impressed with the vast number of innovative submissions. Here are the eight lucky projects that made it through…

Pedal-Powered Water Battery

Submitted by Tom Surman this canny idea means audiences get a workout while getting entertained. The Pedal-Powered Water Battery can be used to power anything from gigs to theatre productions and screenings. It’s easy to transport and dependent on power generated by the audience’s ability to pedal (bummer if you miss the end of your film because someone had to pee). The PPWB works by pedal-power pumping water five metres up a tower, the water then gushes down and the power generated by the fall is used to create electricity.

D-I-Y-Namo

Interactive designer Tim Richardson wants to teach bike riders how to build their own eco bike lights. Powered by the motion of the wheel, and made from recycled parts such as a Tic Tac box, his idea will appeal to the nation’s growing army of cyclists. Tim aims to hold workshops across the country on how to build your own D-I-Y-Namo.

Greenwashed

Documentary filmmaker Sam Goldwater is making a 30-minute film about the environmental activist squatter scene in London. He wants the doc to question how environmental activism aims to change the law, and what it’s like to live on the edge of society.

Pangaea – Music From the Sun

Musician Fred Phethean’s project is ticking our boxes. He’s built a solar-powered sound system through workshops with young people in an economically deprived area of Newcastle. He wants to use the money to put on events using the speakers and hold more workshops to build similar systems.

Pooter – The Viral Challenge App (picture above)

Tomás Flannery’s app enables you to collect rare species of butterflies and bees –kind of like a virtual butterfly net. It encourages users to reconnect with the natural world by collecting all 56 varieties of butterflies, which are dwindling in the UK. You take a picture of the insect and Pooter identifies the breed, adding it to your existing bank of pictures. It will also aid researchers by recording abundant breeding areas. 

Verbatim Theatre Piece

Eilís Sanfey’s play will highlight the plight of communities living through natural disasters caused by climate change. She aims to interview people in places such as The Maldives, Pakistan and Kenya. All interviews will be carried out on Skype and will become part of the final performance.

Cinema Ponderosa

Kate Marston’s community project will offer young people free filmmaking workshops, exploring environmental ideas. The films will then be shown, alongside films from the No Limits Student Film Festival, at a large solar-powered screen in a green space in the heart of Sheffield.

The Hive

Elspeth Rae aims to create a festival highlighting the plight of the honeybee. Environmental group The Robin Collective will curate the festival, housed in a giant hive-like structure. There will be a large number of activities focusing on bees, as well as honey-based beverages and food.