Competitions offer cash prizes for stopping the Gulf oil spill: reminder

(AFP PHOTO / GOVERNOR JINDAL'S OFFICE)

Deepwater Horizon spill is now estimated to have affected 423 miles (680 km) of Gulf coastline; companies including Pepsi offer prize money for creative solutions to help the Gulf States.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) now estimate that as of July 2 the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill which occurred on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico, has affected 423 miles (680 km) of coastline, threatening 36 national wildlife refuges.

In a bid to find innovative solutions to the spill several companies are holding competitions in an effort to find creative solutions to the continuing problem.

Soft drinks manufacturer Pepsi, who launched their Pepsi Refresh Project in January which so far has awarded $7 million in grants to help turn ideas benefiting humanity into reality, have added a category to the competition for ideas which benefit Gulf States.

The competition opens for submissions on July 12 at midday ET and closes on July 16 at 11:59 ET, or whenever Pepsi receives 1000 submissions; which ever happens first.

The public are able to vote on the ideas starting Monday August 2 and recipients of the grants will be announced on September 2. Submitted ideas that receive the most votes will receive grants of $5,000 (€4,000), $25,000(€20,000); $50,000 (€40,000) and $250,000 (€200,000) depending on the percentage of the votes they receive.

The Facebook page dedicated to the Pepsi Refresh Project to date has a registered 52,040 users; there is also a downloadable app for facebook which allows users of the site to vote on their favorite idea. Prospective applicants must be a legal resident of the United States.

Other companies considering holding competitions for creative solutions to this problem include The X prize foundation, a non-profit organization that awards revolutionary ideas that help benefit humanity. According to a statement published on their website on June 30, The X Prize Foundation is considering but has not yet developed a competition, with a multimillion dollar prize, to find ideas that help alleviate the Gulf oil Spill.  Ideas can also be submitted on the Federal Business Opportunities website www.fbo.gov .  

Pepsi www.refresheverything.com

X Prize Foundation www.xprize.org