Mum in star line-up for a top eco award
Jun 2 2007 By Graeme Whitfield, The Journal
One is the former vice-president of the United States, an Oscar winner and the most publicly recognisable face of the campaign against climate change; the other is a respected author and journalist who is one of the best known environmental campaigners in Britain.
But the third contender for an international environmental prize due to be awarded this week is a mother-of-two from Tyneside who started a green campaign because she was angry about pizza boxes.
Anna Heywood, 32, an environmental consultant who lives at Heaton Grove in Newcastle, has been nominated as campaigner of the year in The Observer's Ethical Awards alongside former vice-president Al Gore and writer George Monbiot.
With the prize due to be awarded on a public vote, Anna is not expecting to beat Al Gore, whose film An Inconvenient Truth has been a huge hit around the world.
But she is getting some of the star treatment that he might have received before the Oscars, with a number of clothes companies competing to offer her free clothes that she can show off at the awards ceremony.
She said: "It's been really exciting to be shortlisted, especially when it's alongside people like Al Gore and George Monbiot. I felt a bit worried to be named alongside those two because they're such big names.
"But I'm getting really excited now. I hadn't given the ceremony much thought and it had only just occurred to me that I'd better get a dress this weekend.
"Now someone's sent me some vegetarian shoes that cost £170 and I've had loads of designers ringing up asking me to wear their clothes. I suppose this is what it's like for the stars all the time."
Other people nominated at this week's awards including chancellor Gordon Brown and the Conservative leader David Cameron.
Anna - who lives with husband Nathan and their children Lily and Toby - has been nominated for her work in setting up the Sound Impact Awards, which is run with the National Union of Students and The Ecologist magazine to encourage students to be more environmentally minded.
The awards began when Anna campaigned to stop Northumbria University's Student Union giving out pizzas in wasteful cardboard boxes.
From that start, this year saw 51 universities - including Northumbria - battling to prove their green credentials.
If Anna wins the Ethical Award - which will be announced in London on Thursday - she will follow the Make Poverty History coalition as the campaigner of the year.
The award will be judged on public votes, while other categories are selected by a celebrity panel that includes film star Woody Harrelson, comedian Alastair MacGowan and footballer David James.
Though she feels she is unlikely to beat two of the biggest names in the environmental world, the one thing that Anna will definitely have over them is that she will soon be a Journal columnist.
Later this month, Anna will start a blog on our website www.journallive.co.uk, which will detail her attempts at ethical living.
