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LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS & RESIDENTS PLAN A GREEN ECONOMY AT EARTH DAY EVENTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2011

Contact:

Christina Cernansky
202-744-8463
[email protected]

LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS & RESIDENTS PLAN lan a Green Economy at Earth Day Events

Washington, DC — Local elected officials nationwide from nearly 300 communities will meet with their area’s residents as part of Earth Day Network’s Global Day of Conversation campaign, to discuss promoting their green economy, protecting ecosystems, and saving on energy costs.  In large and small cities across the country, governors, mayors, and city council members from states as far north as Alaska and all the way to the sunny shores of Florida are taking part in these conversations to find innovative solutions to create jobs and green their economies.

These meetings are part of Earth Day activities that also include festivals and town clean-up days.

Topics at the Global Day of Conversation events include energy efficiency, water conservation, transportation, and how municipalities can create economic opportunity through green jobs and clean industry.  These conversations show the commitment of communities to grow the green economy in 2011 and beyond.

“Earth Day Network is thrilled that local leaders have chosen Earth Day as a time to focus their communities on how they can all benefit from growing a green economy, ” said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, “They realize that preserving the environment presents opportunities for innovation and investment that can grow new, high-quality jobs.  The commitment to a clean energy economy that these Global Day of Conversation events demonstrate serves as a call to action for world leaders to support building green economies.”

For over 40 years, Earth Day has served as a launching pad for community action in sustainable development.  In 2011, Earth Day Network’s A Billion Acts of Green® campaign,has counted nearly 97 million Acts thatengage officials and community residents around the world in making a commitment to create a healthier planet.

On April 29, North Miami, FL will kick-off a 1 Million Trees campaign, the first of its kind in South Florida.  The town will also contribute trees to the Tree of Life project in Haiti, where 300,000 trees — one for every person who perished in the 2010 earthquake — will be planted.

Over 80 partners collaborated in Cupertino, CA to host a festival with five workshops, 3 live music performances, and a certified organic farmers market on April 9.

Organizers will lead a Leave No Trace Workshop at a festival in Sandpoint, ID on April 22.  Residents can view electric car demonstrations, receive free CFL light bulbs, and learn about the history of the environmental movement from acclaimed author Doug Scott.

The celebration on April 23 at the Salisbury Zoo in Salisbury, MD features over 20 Earth-friendly exhibiting organizations with educational materials.

Husson University faculty and students in Bangor, ME., built an organic community garden and are donating the edible proceeds to Shaw House, a local homeless shelter.

In Carmel, IN, over 1250 students from 18 schools created inspiring pieces of art for an Earth Day Art Contest.  The top 400 entries will be on display at the Arts & Design District during Carmel’s Earth Day celebration on April 23.

The 13-day festival that starts on April 16 in Fayetteville, AR, features an ECO-passport program in which citizens can collect stamps throughout the county by completing sustainable practices.

The 22nd Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival on April 17 will include Green Strum workshops to create musical instruments out of recycled materials.

On April 19, faculty and students from Glenville State College will plant the 10,000th tree and add recycled compost to the sub-soil at Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV.

About Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network’s mission is to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement, driving action year-round.  Earth Day Network does this through advocacy, education, public policy, and consumer campaigns.  Earth Day Network mobilizes over one billion people in 192 countries with the help of our 25,000 partners.  Please share you “Act of Green” to help EDN achieve its goal of “A Billion Acts of Green” by the 2012 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (aka Rio+20) at www.billionactsofgreen.org.  For more information: archiveedn.wpengine.com.

To find out more information about Global Day of Conversation events, please go to: www.earthday.org/events.