This week marked a milestone for us. After many negotiations, we finally were successful in getting a group pledge from Jefferson County Public Schools, our local school system. They have pledged to turn off all computers, printers, and monitors each night (except for Thursdays when they will get their updates). This is a large group, with over 40,000 computers in use. Each computer being turned off will save 200 pounds of CO2 per year, so their pledge is for 8 million pounds saved! We worked closely with Superintendant Berman and the Director of Facilities of the school system to get this pledge, and we are very proud of JCPS for their commitment. In addition to our pledge, they are planning many other changes in procedure which will save millions of pounds of CO2. They have already purchased biodegradable cornstarch-based trays and utensils to be used in our lunchrooms.
Yesterday we received other good news - our local transit authority, TARC, has made a huge pledge of approximately 2 million pounds. They are planning to form an internal "Green Team," and will be making big changes in their energy use. They have pledged to put all computers on sleep mode when not in use, turn all computers off at night, turn off the lights at night, and check the air pressure in the tires of their buses on a weekly basis. They also are implementing a new way to vent their storage facility which will save a lot of CO2 emissions. They have asked us to give a talk to their employees on polar bears and climate change, which we are planning in 2009.
We have many other groups that we are working with to make a pledge. We will report on those soon.
|
