Awards are granted to up to five companies who have demonstrated excellence in integrating social responsibility in multiple aspects of their businesses. The contestants are judged in six categories of equal weight, with the highest total scores being the winners. The categories are: Community Involvement ~ Education ~ Health ~ Employee Empowerment ~ Environment ~ Sourcing

Nominees are asked to submit 9 samples of their product(s) (where relevant) in its primary and secondary packaging and cases along with (9 copies of) at least a paragraph of no more than one page of text on each of the above six categories citing objective evidence of the nominee’s socially responsible performance. If more that one page of text per category is submitted, the Award Committee members will only review the first page.

Co-sponsors are eligible for consideration as Socially Responsible Business Award candidates as we have developed an impartial third party award selection process. We made the decision to develop such a process as we found that companies concerned enough to wish to co-sponsor the breakfast were frequently excellent candidates for awards, and we did not wish to require companies to have to choose between being a sponsor or being an award candidate.

Judges and previous last year's winners of the award are ineligible for nomination.

Companies may be nominated by anyone in the natural products industry. Notification of nomination and instructions are then sent to nominees by SRBA volunteer staff.

Companies, which are involved in the harvesting, manufacture, sale and/or distribution of natural products are eligible.

In order to ensure the fair and thorough evaluation of all nominees for the Socially Responsible Business Awards, the following materials must be submitted in the manner described below.

Requirements:
1) Using the form available on this page, please submit the name of the company/organization/individual that you are nominating, an appropriate contact at that company or organization, nominee contact information, and your name and contact information.

2) On a separate sheet, please address how your nominee meets the criteria listed below. If you believe they may be helpful and will add strength to your nomination, please include background materials, such as a curriculum vitae, brochure, articles or press clippings. If you are submitting multiple nominees, please submit one form per nominee.

Schedule
All submissions must be delivered to the SRBA office no later than September 8th, 2008.

Nominations open for 2008 SRBA: June 1st, 2008
Nominations due: September 8th, 2008.
2008 Awards ceremony: Thursday October 16th, 2008

Submit form via this website, via email, or fax:

Questions may be addressed to:
Jill Ettinger 201-963-2365 jillettinger@mindspring.com.

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Judging Criteria

Criteria within these categories may include, but is not limited to:

Volunteerism
Community Involvement
Charitable giving within the local community
Donation of Goods and /or Services
Employ marginalized, under-employed members of the local community
Renovation versus new construction
Maintenance of Green Spaces

Education
Educating the public about the company, product or services
Educating the public about significant issues
Consumer Education through Packaging, Advertisements, Newsletters, 800 #
Community Right-To-Know practices
Employee On-The-Job Training
Employee Advancement Training
Training of Brokers, Distributors and Retailers
Non-vocational Education

Employee Empowerment
Work-Family Issues
Living Wage & Pay Distribution
Workplace diversity (Diversity in Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, Ability, Age, & Class)
Health and Wellness
Open Book Management
Participatory Management
Employee Stock Ownership and Profit sharing
Other Employee Benefits

Environment
Energy, Water and Material Use conservation
Pollution Prevention & Re-use, recycling, plant emissions and waste
disposal
Products' Life Cycle Impact
Packaging's Life Cycle Impact
Shipping/distribution/Transportation/commuting
Physical Plant & solar Energy, Zero Emissions, Indoor Air Quality
Reusable, Recycled, compostable, Natural, Organic and/or Sustainable
materials
Environmental Management Systems, Audits, Cost Accounting, CERES and ISO 14000
Design for the Environment

Health
Effect of product on consumers’ health in terms of:
Limiting negative effects & reduction or elimination of sugar, fats,
pesticides, preservatives, colors, antioxidants, genetically engineered
materials, etc.
Promoting positive effects & whole grains, fibers, herbs, organic, herbs used in products in adequate quantities and format to achieve health objective
Disease Prevention and/or Remedies
Physical Exercise and Spiritual Wellness Aids

Sourcing
Impact of Outsourced Materials, Components and Manufacturing
Fair Trade/Living Wage
Non-use child Labor & Adherence to the "Convention on the Rights of the Child"
Non-use of Prison/Bonded Labor
Sourcing from Countries which have no record of Human Rights violations
Sourcing from Companies that do not discriminate based upon gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religion
Worker, community health and safety, organic and sustainable farming
Sourcing which respects traditional practices
No animal testing and humane animal husbandry/use
Purchase orders with Social/Environmental Criteria