ENTRIES POUR IN FOR

PICNIC GREEN CHALLENGE 2008

AMSTERDAM – The PICNIC Green Challenge, an international creative competition hosted by the Dutch Postcode Lottery and cross-media event PICNIC, has received 235 proposals for inventions that could help fight climate change. Entries have come in from countries all over the world, including India, the United States, China, Ecuador, Israel, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The PICNIC Green Challenge calls on creative, innovative people to make concrete contributions to fighting climate change. The contest was open to anyone with a good idea for a product or service that would reduce the greenhouse effect in a consumer-friendly way and contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. The deadline was 31 July 2008.

Finalists to be announced 9 September 2008
The preliminary jury will now choose three to five finalists. Their names will be announced on 9 September. The finalists will present their ideas to the final jury on Thursday 25 September at the PICNIC'08 cross-media event in Amsterdam. The inventor of the winning idea will receive €500,000 from the Dutch Postcode Lottery to bring the winning plan onto the market within two years.

Dutch Postcode Lottery and PICNIC team up
The Dutch Postcode Lottery is devoted to making the world a greener, fairer place. It has joined forces with PICNIC to launch the PICNIC Green Challenge. The two organizations agree that the world needs innovative, appealing new products and services to help it embrace a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. The Dutch Postcode Lottery is contributing expertise gained from its network of 57 charities and providing the prize money. PICNIC, in turn, brings in a broad network of creative, innovative potential contestants from the fields of media, entertainment and technology.

Igor Kluin, 2007 Winner:
"The idea of generating energy locally was there, but its execution really took off after winning the PICNIC Green Challenge last year. Without a doubt, winning this competition totally changed my life."

Former President Clinton, supporter:
"I'm pleased that the Dutch Postcode Lottery, in collaboration with PICNIC, has launched the PICNIC Green Challenge to encourage entrepreneurs to develop new ways to fight one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate change. The Green Challenge does just that by providing an incentive for these entrepreneurs to apply their expertise and innovation to move us into a clean-energy future."

Sir Richard Branson, 2007 jury chairman:
"People aren't going to stop consuming. Instead, we must offer the consumer a green alternative to bring climate change to a halt. The PICNIC Green Challenge is about stimulating the development of these alternatives. The large number of entries demonstrates that awareness of the need to change and the willingness to do something about it are felt worldwide."