Two Swiss finalists at international Social Entrepreneurship competition

Ben & Jerry’s and Ashoka are on the hunt for nine social entrepreneurs from across Europe, that are creating cool new models for sustainable business to help make a difference in communities. The Join Our Core competition first launched in 2012 across five European countries, and this year it’s gone bigger and better launching the competition in UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The organisers are looking for bright sparks aged between 18 and 34 that have business models which incorporate innovation, social impact and sustainability. Prizes include:

• the winner’s business name featured on a Ben & Jerry’s tub, 10,000 Euros
• a trip to our home turf in Vermont
• and 6 months mentoring from Ashoka.

The names of the finalists were published recently. Two Swiss start-ups made it to the finals:

Mr. Green is a company with both the environment and the customer at its heart. Operating in Switzerland, they collect all recyclable material in a Mr. Green bag. Customers can forget about sorting and lugging their recycling to the different collection points. Mr. Green collects all bags from homes and businesses, sorts the waste and gives it to their recycling partners. With this system the customers can recycle waste like plastics, cork, drink boxes which are not recyclable for others.

VEG and the City is all about urban gardening. Their mission is to provide each city dweller with a vegetable garden fitting their own lifestyle with the gardening knowledge know-how. They are aiming to re-connect the urban population with ideas around how our food grows, how it looks like and how you can grow it on your own. VEG and the City is based on three pillars: Webshop, urban gardening classes and harvesting stations and gardens for rent.