Fans of technical and sustainable innovation, take note - the Lemelson-MIT Awards are coming up again. For those who don’t know, the awards recognize inventors' impact on economic and social well-being - to the tune of $500,000 (technology), $100,000 (sustainability), or $30,000 (student prize). Past winners include D-Lab founder/BOP design guru Amy Smith, and Segway inventor Dean Kamen – whose recent work has centered on clean water delivery in poor rural communities.

The awards will accept nominations through October 27. NextBillion readers may be particularly interested in the Sustainability award:

The $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability celebrates individuals whose inventions and innovations enhance economic opportunity and community well-being in developing and/or developed countries, while protecting and restoring the natural environment.

Wrapping up another work week, I’ll leave you with another excellent emerging economy SME that is creatively meeting new market needs while achieving environmentally beneficial outcomes.  One of our New Ventures folks, Kelly Desy, recently interviewed an entrepreneur who saw plenty of money to be made in….. fluorescent light recycling.  Not a pressing environmental concern you say?  As Kelly reports, Brazilians discard 100 million lights every year, almost entirely straight into landfills, leaving hundreds of pounds of mercury to enter the environment.