GreenSage E-zine 04/2009

"America's Greenest Campus" Competition
A nationwide contest for colleges and universities to compete against each other in reducing their carbon footprints

America's Greenest Campus has launched a nationwide contest that enables colleges and universities to compete against each other in reducing their carbon footprints. America's Greenest Campus is a partnership between SmartPower, the nation's leading clean energy and energy efficiency marketing organization, and Climate Culture, the premier online carbon measurement and reduction utility, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

AmericasGreenestCampus.com offers personalized advice on how participants can reduce their carbon footprint and tracks the collective carbon reductions of participating students, faculty, staff and alumni at campuses across the country. The contest runs until October 5, 2009 and winners will be announced in two areas - the school with the most participants and the school with the most carbon reductions per participant - on October 12, 2009. Each winning school will receive $5,000 in cash prizes to be used towards sustainability initiatives on campus.

The America's Greenest Campus contest is being kicked off with a video from BarelyPolitical.com featuring Obama Girl that encourages young people to follow Obama's lead, join the green movement, and "Save Their Energy" by joining the AGC contest. The video can be seen online here: www.americasgreenestcampus.com

Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons announced today that he has joined the campaign. "I'm pleased to join America's Greenest Campus today in announcing a nationwide effort to empower young people to reduce their carbon footprint and fight climate change on college campuses across America," says Simmons. "As Editor-in-Chief of globalGrind.com, which presents the world according to Hip-Hop, I believe youth all around the world are the key to creative solutions for many of the big issues facing our planet. The new technology used by this effort is relevant and cutting-edge, and has the power to make history."

"America's Greenest Campus empowers everyone on campus to be more energy efficient by increasing our awareness about the impact of our everyday actions," said Colin Bennett, student and AGC campus organizer at George Mason University. "Unlike other social networking sites, Climate Culture and America's Greenest Campus help engage our students and turn saving energy into a competitive endeavor with other schools. We all want to make a positive difference for the environment, and now we can have a lot of fun while we do it."

"Climate Culture has made it easy and intuitive for people to live a sustainable lifestyle," says Tom Scaramellino, CEO of Climate Culture. "There is simply nothing else like our program to empower our nation's youth, and with America's Greenest Campus, we are giving them a way to build a community and make a difference on climate change."

The America's Greenest Campus contest also includes the SmartPower Energy Smart Online Ad Challenge. SmartPower is asking the public to create videos that promote the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency. Submissions can be entered through the America's Greenest Campus Web site and www.smartpower.org. The deadline for submissions is also October 5, 2009 and the winner will be announced December 5, 2009. The producer of the winning video will receive a $10,000 prize and the submission will be used in SmartPower's national advertising.

"Reaching out to echo boomers and teaching college students how they can be part of the energy efficiency solution is what our organization is all about," says Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower. "We are proud to partner with Climate Culture and the U.S. Department of Energy, and eager to show Americans how they can take concrete, meaningful steps towards reducing their carbon footprints."

Facebook users can join the America's Greenest Campus contest through their Facebook account with the Climate Culture Facebook Application. The application enables users to view their carbon footprint reductions and three most recent carbon reduction commitments, invite their Facebook friends to install the Climate Culture App, and view reductions taken by Facebook friends. Participants' reductions, actions and Climate Culture level increases in their Facebook activity feeds on the homepage and in the user profile wall. Check out the app here: http://apps.facebook.com/climate_culture

According to a recent survey, 7 in 10 Americans say they want to reduce their carbon footprint, but lack the information and tools to do so. The America's Greenest Campus Web site provides personalized recommendations and hundreds of actions to help individuals save money, carbon and other resources. College communities can learn how to be more energy efficient and track both their personal success and their schools' standing against other campuses across the nation.

Partners include leading youth environmental groups such as the Sierra Student Coalition and the National Association of Environmental Law Societies.

For more information on America's Greenest Campus and the Energy Smart Online Ad Challenge, or to schedule interviews with Mr. Keane or Mr. Scaramellino, contact: Larry Kopp, The T.A.S.C. Group, (646) 723-4344, (917) 282-2357, larry(at)thetascgroup(dot)com, and Amy Neal, LaunchSquad, (415) 625-8555, efficiency(at)launchsquad(dot)com.

About SmartPower

SmartPower is a national, nonprofit marketing organization committed to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency. SmartPower's mission is to build the clean energy marketplace by helping the American public become smarter about their energy use. In under a decade, SmartPower's award-winning marketing campaigns have been credited with creating unprecedented demand for wind, solar and hydropower. Today, SmartPower has become known as the nationwide "Got Milk" organization on clean energy. www.smartpower.org, www.letsgetenergysmart.com

About Climate Culture

Climate Culture is the first interactive and entertaining utility for reducing your impact on climate change. For the first time, you can receive accurate and personalized advice on the amount of money, carbon and other resources you expend and save from hundreds of lifestyle and purchasing decisions. Climate Culture licenses its Personal Energy Advisor software to electric and gas utilities, companies, universities and other organizations seeking to better engage stakeholders on energy use and climate change. For more, visit www.climateculture.com.