20 June 2012: The Sustainia100 awards were unveiled in a parallel event to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). The 100 solutions come from 56 countries.

The Sustainia100 award seeks to provide an overview and inspiring catalogue of sustainable development solutions. The solutions represent sustainable innovation in areas such as city planning, energy, fashion, water and waste management, high-tech and transportation.

Among the awardees was an International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) initiative to produce economic, environmental and social benefits from ecological biomass. Its “beneficial cattail” initiative harvests and processes the common wetland plant, cattail (Typha spp.), to produce low-cost bioenergy, fight nutrient loading to waterways by capturing phosphorus, recycle this phosphorus into fertilizer, produce carbon credits and improve wetland habitat. [Sustainia100 Solutions]