Three essential ingredients
The contest is a search for new products and services that shine in three ways: sustainability, creativity, and business viability. If you've thought of an invention that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help make the consumer’s lifestyle more eco-friendly, and score highly on convenience, quality and design, we want to know about it.

Last year's winning invention, Greensulate™, a natural Styrofoam substitute, "was the ultimate combination of creativity, sustainability and entrepreneurship," Femke says. The substance is made in a clever way – through growing mushroom root fibres around grain hulls – its environmental impact is minimal, and the winners' business plan was sound. And the jury liked Veranda Solar's decorative, mass-market-ready energy panels so much it decided to establish a runner-up prize.

"What's still a problem with sustainable products is that they're often not very good-looking," Femke says. "That's why the creative part is so important. A product has to be attractive to reach the public." The jury's hoping plenty of creative-industry types will enter this year.

She also loves the LED lightbulb as the new energy saver and the standby killer, which takes the effort out of cutting power use.

Why me?
"A 23-year-old winning €500,000 to realise an idea that involves waste and fungus – a lot of people will raise their eyebrows and think,'Yeah, right,'" Femke says. "But that's what can happen. Anyone with an entrepreneurial idea can win, even though they don't have the track record financial institutions often require."

And if you're chosen as a finalist, your days as an outsider will be over. "Next to the prize money, we can offer an incredible network of contacts in the business and environmental world," Femke says. "Past winners have also mentioned it gives them credibility, so potential customers and investors invite them for meetings. Before, they wouldn't have got past the secretary."

Finalists also get global publicity. "There was lots of interest last year from the international media," says Femke. "The Green Challenge finals were even broadcast on the Chinese news, with more than 200 million viewers." It's the kind of exposure most startups can only dream of.

Presentation matters
Itching to get started? Femke has a few tips before you click 'submit'. Every entrant must submit a full business plan, and finalists will present their ideas to the jury in person. At both stages, a bit of visual and verbal style goes a long way.

In the Greensulate™ entry, Femke says, "the pictures of the product were taken by a very good photographer. It was presented almost like a jewel." And inventor Eben Bayer gave a clear explanation of the product and its potential on stage.

A concise pitch is especially crucial for more complex entries like Qurrent, the sustainable-energy-network company that won in 2007. Femke says, "I really like their slogan: 'The first energy company not to sell energy. We help you make your own.' The slogan is important because their product is difficult to explain. It's not visible, and it's very technical. But the jury members chose it unanimously."

Crisis: the perfect opportunity
With the dismal state of the global economy, is the world ready for the next big thing? Femke thinks so. She argues that with the deepening of the financial crisis since the last Green Challenge, we need great climate-saving ideas more than ever. "It becomes clearer in a crisis that you have to have a sustainable product, but you also have to be creative and show your entrepreneurship to be successful. I'm certain that these times will cause a shift, and organisations and people with those three qualities will do better."

What's more, people will be more likely to embrace the new. With everything in flux, Femke says, "safe and standard procedures are not seen as normal any more. This is a time of change, and that can be good for entrepreneurs, especially sustainable entrepreneurs."

Read all about the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge!