-By Adweek Staff

NEW YORK General Electric, Wal-Mart and HSBC are among the winners of the inaugural Green Effie Awards honoring eco-conscious effective advertising, the Effie organization said today.
 
The prizes will be presented at the 40th annual Effie Awards Gala on June 4 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York.
 
"Green has the most to gain when extremely large companies take the opportunity to create change," said Eric Ryan, chairman of the Green Effie jury and co-founder of Method, in a statement.
 
In line for kudos are GE's "Ecomagination Round Two" by Omnicom Group's BBDO; Wal-Mart's "Personal Sustainability Project," in partnership with Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi S; and HSBC's "There's No Small Change," from WPP Group's JWT.
 
"In true Effie fashion, each Green Effie winning campaign created tangible results, from Wal-Mart employees developing positive sustainability habits to HSBC customers making real change to GE creating and selling greener products, " said Ryan.