Five U.S. Cities Named Most Water Wise
Residents Across the U.S. Make Over 740,000 Pledges to Cut Water Use By 3 Billion Gallons As Part of 8th Annual Wyland National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation, Presented by Toyota
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., May 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents across the United States took part in the 2019 Wyland National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation, April 1-30, by pledging to save over 3 billion gallons of water over the next year. The annual month-long campaign to promote water quality and drought resiliency ended on April 30 with mayors from 35 states vying to see whose city could be the nation's most "water wise."
The cities with the highest percentage of residents making pledges during the campaign included Rexburg, Idaho, Palm Coast, Fla., Athens, Ga., Tucson, Ariz., and Columbus, Ohio. Overall, residents around the nation, from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Winterport, Maine, made 740,143 pledges to change behaviors ranging from fixing home leaks to reducing harmful runoff into local rivers and streams.
The challenge, presented by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota, with support from the U.S. EPA, National League of Cities, The Toro Company, Earth Friendly Products – maker of ECOS, Ecosystems, LLC, and Conserva Irrigation, addresses the growing importance of educating consumers about the many ways they use water. The challenge kicked off earlier in April in Cleveland, Ohio, in coordination with the 50-Year Anniversary commemoration of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire, one of the events in recent history leading to better stewardship of U.S. water resources.
Residents from winning cities will now be entered into a drawing for thousands of dollars in water-saving or eco-friendly prizes, including $3,000 toward their annual home utility bill, "Greening Your Home" cleaning kits from Earth Friendly Products (ECOS), home irrigation equipment from The Toro Company, and a water fixture makeover for a local school from Ecosystems LLC. A $500 home improvement store shopping spree will also be chosen from among the entire pool of U.S. participants. Additionally, participating residents were asked to nominate a deserving charity in their community to receive a 2019 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
In addition to reducing overall water waste, challenge participants in 50 states pledged to reduce the use of 8.6 million single-use plastic water bottles and eliminate 179,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds. By altering daily lifestyle choices, pledges also resulted in potentially 80 million fewer pounds in landfills. Potential savings of 22.6 million gallons of oil, 12.9 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, 196 million kilowatt hours of electricity, and $39.6 million in consumer cost savings rounded out the final pledge results.
About the Wyland Foundation
Founded in 1993 by environmental artist Wyland (best known for his series of 100 monumental marine life murals), the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world's ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through community events, education programs, and public art projects. www.wylandfoundation.org
About Toyota
Toyota has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 47,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.).
To date, Toyota has contributed more than $900 million to American nonprofit groups. For more information about Toyota's contributions in the U.S., visit http://www.toyota.com/about.
SOURCE Wyland Foundation
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