Nicola Peel
Nicola has been working for most of her adult life on finding solutions. Blessed with common sense she has focused on finding solutions to the numerous environmental and social problems she has encountered.Since 2000 she has been working in the Ecuadorean Amazon. She travelled from the headwaters in Ecuador down the Amazon River to Brazil researching the effects of the oil industry on the environment and indigenous people who live there.Her discoveries led her to share her insights in a number of short films as well as the feature documentary ‘Blood of the Amazon’. Producing a film was not enough, driven to find ways to help deal with the contamination left from the oil industry she co-founded The Amazon Mycorenewal Project, bringing together a group of scientists to research mycoremediation (the use of fungi to clean up contaminated sites).Looking for an immediate solution to help the people she started to build rainwater systems for families drinking contaminated water. Over the years Nicola has built numerous families water systems. She has also initiated the clean up of villages using eco-bricks (empty plastic bottles filled with rubbish).Nicola built the first ecological restaurant in the Amazon (built from 3,200 eco-bricks) and the first place to serve local coffee. Working with the local councils she has provided them with environmental consultancy and worked to change the entire way of looking at waste.Nicolas’ new focus is to work with big business to show them exciting ways to help clean up the planet on a large scale and how to change business from within, looking from a totally different angle.