2005 OSSA Awards

2005 OSSA venue
Ritz Carlton Hotel

Angela Lindvall
The Collage Foundation

The OSSA Awards
by Jonathan Adler

The Outstanding Sustainable Style Achievement (OSSA) Awards recognize outstanding social and environmental efforts across the many and diverse style and design industries that help us all "look fabulous, live well and do good". The OSSAs are designed to showcase the amount and breadth of sustainability efforts underway in style industries, as well as foster cross-industry awareness and inspiration. They are one of the few places where stylemakers, community organizations, businesses and government come together to celebrate the many ways we can make positive change in the world as we express ourselves in our individual style choices. Above all, the OSSAs provide incredible role models for us all to look up to.

The awards are presented as a part of SSF's "recognition and inspiration" program area, designed to highlight the best in sustainable style and showcase the positive power of making more sustainable lifestyle choices.

LOHAS 9 was the presenting sponsor and host for the 2nd annual Outstanding Sustainable Style Achievement (OSSA) Awards, held on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina Del Rey, California. For the second year, the host was the beautiful, talented, and sustainably stylish actress, Sharon Lawrence. In addition to the 2005 OSSA Awards, the Collage Foundation presented their Youth Award. For the first time ever, SSF hosted a live auction during the event featuring tickets to Sarah McLachlan; home furnishings by Herman Miller, IKEA, and Bambu Home, a shopping spree to Cutter & Buck, American Apparel and Loomstate; travel with jetBlue and Song to events like Global Green's 2006 Oscar Party and places like San Francisco's Triton Hotel, L.A.'s Warner Bros Studios and New York's Great Jones Spa.

You can find all the 2005 nominees and recipients below and in issue 006 of our SASS Magazine. For more information on the OSSA Award nomination and selection process, click here.

[2005 Premier Awards]

Vision & Innovation Innovation - Aveda

The Vision & Innovation Award recognizes an individual, organization or company that has demonstrated ongoing leadership and vision in a style/design industry. The SSF Board of Directors has selected Aveda to receive SSF’s first Vision & Innovation Award. Since its founding in 1978 by Horst M. Rechelbacher, Aveda has set the standard in the beauty industry, as well as many other industries, on how to infuse both social and environmental responsibility into a company’s culture and core business strategy.

Outstanding Public Expression Award: Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins

The Outstanding Public Expression award recognizes efforts by a celebrity, style professional or public figure that uses their high profile position to bring attention to pressing social and/or environmental issues. The SSF Board of Directors is delighted to confer the first Outstanding Public Expression Award to not one, but two individuals, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. Perhaps Hollywood’s most conscious couple, Sarandon and Robbins are well known for speaking out on issues ranging from the environment and human rights to politics, AIDS and hunger.

Style & Substance Award - Audrey Hepburn

The Style & Substance Award is SSF's highest honor and recognizes outstanding efforts by a celebrity, style professional or public figure improving the quality of life for children around the world. Because the late Audrey Hepburn originally inspired the Award as an actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador who worked to raise awareness of the plight of children around the world, the SSF Board of Directors has chosen resolutely to present the first Style & Substance Award to Ms. Hepburn through the Audrey Hepburn Children’s fund established in her honor.

The Collage Foundation Youth Award - Jenny Hwa

The Collage Foundation's Youth Award will also be presented at this year's OSSA ceremony to Jenny Hwa, Founder of Loyale Clothing.

[2005 OSSA Award Jury]

Lynn Barker | Sustainable Building Specialist, City of Seattle; LEED accredited professional

Larry Dohrs | VP, Newground Social Investment; Amnesty International Just Earth! Program Steering Committee Member

Bruce Herbert | President, Newground Social Investment; Sierra Club Shareholder Action Task Force

Lisa Hymas | Senior Editor, Grist.org

Barbara Johnson | Co-founder of the Design Resource Institute; GreenMap Seattle Steering Group member

Amanda Wong | Student, Garfield High School

[2005 OSSA Award Recipients & Nominees]

Communications & Communication Design

Treehugger.com for their hip and stylish blog
BP Solar for their airport ad campaign - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
VH1 and the Global Fund for their HIV/AIDS awareness ad campaign
Condé Nast/Eddie Bauer for their organic cotton ad campaign
The Surfer's Path for printing on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with non-GMO soy ink

Designed Environments

Q Collection for their sleek line of sustainable furniture
Antique Drapery Rod Co. for integrating sustainability throughout their products and operations
Bank of America Tower (partnering with The Durst Organization and Cook+Fox Architects) in NYC for being the first green high-rise
IKEA for choosing not to use toxic flame retardant in their furniture - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
Ford Motor Co. and Bill McDonough for designing the Ford Rouge Center

Arts & Entertainment

Sarah McLachlan for her song and video for 'World on Fire' - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
Fine Living Network for their 50 ways to protect the environment programming
Warner Brothers Studio for the new LEED-rated building on studio grounds
Ricky Martin for establishing the Ricky Martin Foundation to protect children around the world
The Day After Tomorrow for putting climate change on the big screen

Fashion & Beauty

Rogan Gregory for Loomstate brand organic cotton jeans - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
American Apparel for being sweatshop free, promoting local economies, and for launching their new sustainable edition line
Ermenegildo Zegna for their use of bamboo in the Spring 04 collection
Cutter & Buck for introducing their 100% organic line, Integrity Pique
Pharmacopia for their 100% natural body care products
Great Jones Spa for offering a luxurious, chemical and preservative-free spa experience

Food & Restaurant

Stonyfield Farms for their waste minimization and recycling programs
Frito Lay for their natural line of snack products - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
McDonalds for using Newman's Own Salad Dressing
OrganicToGo.com for providing organic, wholesome, delicious organic food for delivery or pick-up
Peanut Better for their organic line of fabulous, uniquely flavored peanut butter

Industrial Design & Consumer Products

Method cleaning products for making eco-friendly cleaning products stylish **Honorable Mention**
Herman Miller for continuing to make furniture utterly stylish and sustainable
Roost Home Furnishings for their hand made recycled paper vases
NEC for their biodegradable-plastic laptop
Call2Recycle for helping to recycle rechargable batteries - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
Bambu for their innovative, contemporary bamboo homewares

Mobility

Toyota for introducing the updated 2004 Prius - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
Honda for giving us the option of hybrid Civics
DaimlerChrysler and Smartcar for introducing the forfour to the alternative-fuel commuter car market
General Motors for their diesel hybrid bus systems in Austin, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, Orange County, Calif., Seattle and more
UPS for having the largest fleet of compressed natural gas vehicles in the U.S.

Non-profit

NRDC for the L.A. fundraiser 'Forces of Nature'
Global Green for their Prius arrivals at the 2004 Oscars - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
ASEC for their presence at LOHAS 8
ACLU for their 2004 civil rights ad campaign
Boarding for Breast Cancer for their efforts to raise awareness about breast cancer among young women

Sports

EcoGolf for developing biodegradable tees and water soluble golf balls
Zumiez for supporting Boarding for Breast Cancer and offering sustainable products such as bamboo skateboards and vegan shoes in their stores
The Lance Armstrong Foundation for their WearYELLOW, LiveSTRONG campaign - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for their Smackdown the Vote campaign
OrganicAthlete for providing information on healthy living, ecological responsibility and compassion for all life

Travel

jetBlue for offering EcoTru Cleansing Wipes to airline passengers
Hotel Triton for their eco-celebrity suites
Aspen Skiing Company for being the first ski resort in the U.S. to achieve ISO 14001 certification for "GreenTrack" - **OSSA RECIPIENT**
Kimpton Hotel in NYC for their overall commitment to social and environmental responsibility
Song, operated by Delta Airlines, for offering in-flight organic food

[gallery]


OSSA Award winners, Sharon Lawrence, Gavin Keilly & SSF Co-founders	Sharon Lawrence with SSF Co- founders Sean Schmidt and Rebecca Luke	2005 OSSA Award Nominees


Our gracious host, Sharon Lawrence	SSF Co-founders Rebecca Luke and Sean Schmidt	LOHAS 9 producer Ted Ning, keeping nominees on the edge of their seats	OSSA Awards event manager and auctioneer extraordinaire Gavin Keilly


BP's Irene Brown with Sharon Lawrence	Call2Recycle takes home the OSSA for Consumer Products	Chris Hacker of Aveda, recipient of the Vision & Innovation Award	Multi-talented Frank Scura, presenting (and accepting) awards to Lance Armstrong and Frito Lay


Rogan Gregory shows off his OSSA Award for Loomstate with Sharon	Sean Schmidt, proud papa of SSF and the OSSA Awards	Ruben Aronin accepts Global Green's OSSA


Angela Lindvall and Kelly Cox, presenting Collage Foundation's Youth Award...	...to Jenny Hwa, founder and designer of Loyale Clothing	Collage Foundation's finest at the OSSA Awards	Youth Award winner Jenny Hwa


Ellen Erwin, executive director of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, speaks about Ms. Hepburn's life and legacy	Holding the Style & Substance Award, Ellen Erwin accepts SSF's highest honor on behalf of Audrey Hepburn	Post-acceptance, Ellen Erwin shares a smile with the two proud Co-founders