Mall Blackburn grabs green awards

The Mall Blackburn has boosted its green credentials after winning two prestigious national awards and being named as a Green World Ambassador for 2014.

Its first gong came when it won a Green Apple Built Environment and Architectural Heritage Awards for its energy saving LED lighting installation, which was trialled in an area of the shopping centre.

After competing against more than 200 other nominations, the Mall received a trophy and certificate from Doreen Lawrence, successful campaigning mother of murder victim Stephen Lawrence, who was training to be an architect before his death.

The Mall then scooped another Green Apple, for its continued efforts to reduce waste.

It was awarded Gold in the International Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice after fighting off stiff competition from 500 other organisations with its unique EnviroMall initiative, which sees The Mall adopt a proactive approach to reducing impact on the environment.

In 2012 The Mall Blackburn recycled approximately 45 tonnes of plastic saving approximately 733 barrels of oil, 1,104 yards of landfill space, 259,830 KWh of energy, 4,200 trees, 1,960,000 gallons of water and recycled approximately 25 tonnes of metal; equal to two un-laden London double decker buses.

As a result of these wins, The Mall has been named a Green World Ambassador for 2014, will have its winning papers published in The Green Book, which is the leading international work of reference on environmental best practice, and will be considered to represent England in the European Business Awards for the Environment.

Loraine Jones, general manager at The Mall Blackburn, said: “It is wonderful to gain such prestigious recognition for our environmental efforts and I would like to thank our staff, retailers and, of course, our customers, for their help in making The Mall a greener place.

“We constantly strive to reduce our carbon footprint and being named as Green Word Ambassador for 2014 is a real coup.

“Our efforts will continue and we look forward to entering the Green Apple Awards again next year.”

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and have become established as the country’s major recognition for environmental endeavour among companies, councils and communities.

The awards are organised by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world. The Green Apple Awards are supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent bodies.