Website building and hosting service Squarespace has announced the winners of the first Australian edition of its “Make It Awards”, an initiative that aims to support the success of the growing local community of creators and entrepreneurs.
The winners are:
- Reef Design Lab – for making use of technology and design to restore and protect marine environments impacted by urban development. Reef Design Lab collaborates closely with Australia’s leading scientific organisations to develop solutions that will have a positive impact on the marine environment. Their work has received recognition from both environmental groups and design bodies globally.
- Lousy Ink – for its unique sustainable activity of recycling printer cartridge inks into sustainable art materials. Lousy Ink was founded by two artists, Mike Eleven and Oli Ruskidd, who combined their love of art and community and their sustainability advocacy, particularly raising awareness of the tonnes of ‘waste ink’ being generated across the globe and the lack of a sustainable solution. Through this initiative, the pair has saved more than five school buses worth of ink.
- The Difference Org – for having developed Australia’s first mobile app that allows users to round up their digital spare change from every transaction and donate the difference to causes they care about. The app harnesses the power of technology to revolutionise the donation process and allows making a positive impact easier.
Each winner will receive a $30,000 grant that is inspired by the investment Squarespace Founder and CEO Anthony Casalena received to start the company in 2003. In addition to the grant, the winners also receive a one-year subscription to Squarespace.
The “Make it Awards” judging panel consisted of a notable lineup of creators, entrepreneurs and business leaders including Squarespace Founder and CEO Anthony Casalena, co-founder of Keep It Cleaner, Stephanie Claire Smith (Miller) and Squarespace CMO Kinjil Mathur.
