Catharena van Zyl was born in South Africa and moved to Germany at the age of eight in 1989.

She joined the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) beginning of 2008 and is working in the Project Management of  different of EPEA-projects.

Catharena studied Environmental Science at the University of Lüneburg with interest in the dynamics of societal changes towards Sustainability, sustainable lifestyles especially the dynamics between  consumers and producers of sustainable supply chains.

She has been actively engaged in the organization of several congresses, seminars and fairs on the topic of Sustainability within her years of study and has been working within NGOs concerned with civil society, environmental protection and intercultural communication, such as the Heinrich-Böll Foundation and Greenpeace. She has been granted a scholarship at the University of Wroclaw/ Poland, where she has been doing research on the National Sustainability Approach of Poland as a former communistic country.

Catharena joined EPEA after one year of research for a film project with a German director on the topic of sustainable production and consumption. Michael Braungart and William McDonough’s book “Cradle to Cradle” and her acquaintance with Michael Braungart has changed her whole view on Sustainability so dramatically that there was no doubt about “changing the course”.

Currently she is working on a Cradle to Cradle project with the company Philips Electronics. Her activities are mainly in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the country with the highest potential of changing course towards Cradle to Cradle as of this moment. It is closely followed by Denmark and Taiwan.

Download her Presentation from the Buy-Environmental Trade Show and Conference 2009 Here ...

We are still awaiting permission from the Bruangart Institute to allow for the Michael Bruangart video to be availbale for download - please be patient with us. 

Edward Warcaba- GECA - Good Environmental Choice Australia

B.Sc., M.Sc.(Hons), RACI, MAIOH

Ed has a B.Sc. in chemistry and a M.Sc.(Hons) in environmental chemistry.
He is a research chemist and member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Ed is a qualified Occupational Hygienist and a member of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists. He has previously held a supervisory position with the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service and managed the OHS unit of a global multinational organisation. In the last 6 years Ed has headed up  an Asia Pacific role as Sustainability Manager for another well recognised leading manufacturer

He is an active member of The Green Building Council of Australia and has served on the Technical Working Groups for all the criteria developed. Ed is a Certified Green Star Professional. Ed is also an assessor for Green Star

Ed is Chairman of Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA), the first Australian Eco Label based on ISO 14024 standard. GECA is the recognised  eco label by the Green Building Council and all GECA certified products are deemed ”Environmentally Innovative” under the GBCA Green Star Materials Calculators.

Ed is also Chairman of the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living (MCSL) and a director of Ristech Holdings Pty. Ltd.

Download Edward Warcaba's presentation here ...