The Increasing Importance of Earth Day

As we celebrate Earth Day 2009, we at EnviroMedia are carrying on our tradition of holding public service events to inform the public about climate change and energy conservation as well as promote environmental awareness in general. With the EPA’s announcement Friday that greenhouse gases endanger public health, perhaps this 39th Earth Day will take on more importance.

This year, we’ll be staging events in both Austin and Portland due to the addition of our new West Coast office. Our Austin staff will be partnering with Meals on Wheels (for which we’ve been volunteering for the last four years) to conduct “Energy Expert House Calls” for residents of Lyons Gardens and Heritage Point Apartments. Our staff will be installing compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and educating residents on ways to become more energy-efficient, enabling them to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

In Portland, we’ll be focusing on educating the public about “vampire electronics”—household items such as televisions, kitchen appliances, computers and electronic device chargers—that suck electricity even when they’re not in use. “Vampire electronics” cost Americans billions of dollars each year in wasted electricity and generate tons of carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Our “energy vampires” hit the airwaves six times this morning on Fox 12’s Good Day Oregon to tell consumers how they can take a few simple steps, such as unplugging these devices when not in use or purchasing special energy-saving power strips, to help slow climate change.

So today, we ask that you take a few moments to think about ways you can cut back on your energy consumption. Make an Earth Day resolution to take action in your own home or office to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (and save yourself some money, too).

Happy Earth Day from EnviroMedia Social Marketing and Green Canary Sustainability Consulting.

Sincerely,
Kevin Tuerff
President and Cofounder

What Our Clients Are Doing to Help the Planet…

Students from University of Maine Win Power Down for the Planet Challenge

Watch the Power Down for the Planet contest announcement video.

Climate Savers Computing Initiative today announced the University of Maine at Farmington as the winner among a total of 19 universities in the first Power Down for the Planet Challenge. Twenty-four percent of those students pledged to turn off their PCs when they are not in use. Jackson State University came in second, and the University of Iowa, which came in third, recruited 13 percent of students to take the pledge and garnered the most pledges—6,013. The energy conservation/social marketing campaign was organized for our new client, Climate Savers Computing Initiative. In just three months, this higher education campaign produced the following results:

Total Power Down Pledges:  17,522
Total Carbon Offset:  3,197 tons per year
Dollars Saved:  $459,953 per year
Energy Saved:  4,209,661 kWh per hour

Universities benefit by seeing real savings through lower energy bills and by producing fewer harmful emissions that lead to climate change. A university with 70,000 networked computers can save about $3 million per year just by activating power management features on all of its computers. Nationally, by enabling power saving features on desktop personal computers (PCs), college students could collectively contribute to annual savings of more than $150 million in energy costs.

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative is a nonprofit group led by Dell, Google, HP, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, and World Wildlife Fund. Sponsors include Acer, AMD, Delta Electronics, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Intuit, Lite-On, NEC, Sun and Supermicro.

Don’t Mess with Texas 2009 Celebrity Intern Competition

Don’t Mess with Texas has been conducting statewide auditions to select three summer interns to work on the nation’s premier litter prevention campaign, and the response has been overwhelming. The team conducted intern talent search events across the state, and many applicants also applied online and via mail. Two of the winners will be selected by our judges, and the third winner will be selected by online voting now through April 30. Visit the Don’t Mess with Texas Web site to watch their audition videos and vote for your favorite candidate at http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/intern/.

The three winners will work here in June and July, and will perform duties such as promoting current Don’t Mess with Texas programs, participate in statewide events, and will be assigned “litter challenges” where they will have the opportunity to develop and promote their own creative litter prevention ideas to persuade young people not to litter. Don’t Mess with Texas intern campaign activities will be featured as Webisodes online.

Water IQ Helps Water Utilities Cope with Drought

Summer is not even here yet, and much of Texas is already in a severe drought. Water IQ is a statewide water awareness campaign that helps educate consumers on how to save water in Texas. Our experiential marketing teams are informing residential water users about the urgent need for water conservation and the best ways to reduce water use through outreach events for the North Texas Municipal Water District, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, Lower Colorado River Authority and the City of Austin. The campaign has a track record of saving hundreds of millions of gallons of water through conservation.

Through Water IQ, the North Texas Municipal Water District is hosting events at which patrons can take the Water IQ quiz on our interactive, touch-screen computer for the opportunity to win prizes, including reusable water bottles and shopping bags. You can find the touch-screen computer as well as the towering, 9-foot sprinkler head at local events and fairs.

Water IQ events for the Lower Colorado River Authority in Central Texas are held at various fairs and festivals in north and west Travis county. At these events, patrons have the opportunity to win a Water IQ Home Makeover prize by pledging to save water in and around their home.

Austin Water Utility customers have the opportunity to register to get three free low-flow toilets, to replace older, water-wasting models. The city is conducting three outreach events to promote this program, and held a very successful one on April 18 at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day in Austin.

Water IQ is based on research that revealed the more people know about their water source, the more willing they are to save it. The City of Cedar Park and the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District in Montgomery County also use Water IQ to educate their citizens. This highly successful campaign is getting the word out that, “Every Day is a Chance to Save.”

Visit www.wateriq.org to learn how to conserve water in your area.