SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- KTVU Channel 2, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land (TPL), today announced Naftali Moed as the Bay Area's 2011 Cox Conserves Hero. As Moed's environmental nonprofit of choice, Pie Ranch will receive $5,000.

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Moed was nominated for teaching fellow high school students the value of organic gardening and sustainable agriculture. He led the creation of 10 garden beds, a chicken house and an outdoor classroom space. The garden is a living lab for science classes and a source of food for nutrition classes at Oceana High School.

Each of the finalists received $1,250 to donate to his or her environmental nonprofit of choice:

• Jeffrey Betcher (Quesada Gardens Initiative)
• Arthur Boone (Northern Alameda County Group of the Sierra Club)
• Susan Schwartz (Berkeley Partners for Parks)
• Christopher Vernon (Phat Beets Produce)

Bruce Beyaert and Lennie Roberts are previous winners in the Bay Area's Cox Conserves Heroes program. Since the program launched in 2008, nearly $170,000 has been collectively donated to 50 local environmental nonprofits and 16 individuals have been recognized as Cox Conserves Heroes. Cox Conserves Heroes also runs in Atlanta, Arizona, San Diego, Seattle and Virginia.

For more information, visit CoxConservesHeroes.com or find us on Facebook.

Social Media: #CoxConservesHeroes and #CoxConservesHero

About KTVU Channel 2

Located in Oakland, Calif., KTVU Channel 2 serves the entire San Francisco Bay Area and is part of Cox Media Group and is a FOX affiliate. Cox Media Group, Inc. is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. With $1.8 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 85 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.  Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America.   For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.  

About The Trust for Public Land

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, TPL has worked with willing landowners, community groups, and national, state, and local agencies to complete close to 5,000 land conservation projects in 46 states, protecting 2.8 million acres. Since 1994, TPL has helped states and communities craft and pass over 382 ballot measures, generating $34 billion in local conservation funds.  www.tpl.org

About Cox Conserves

Cox Conserves is Cox Enterprises' national sustainability program that seeks to reduce the company's energy consumption by embracing alternative forms of energy, conserving natural resources and inspiring eco-friendly behavior. The program engages each of the company's major subsidiaries (Cox Communications, Manheim, Cox Media Group and AutoTrader.com) and encourages Cox Enterprises' 60,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices.

At KTVU, alternative energy is generated through a fuel cell that powers 69 percent of the main building. The station's energy-efficient HVAC system saves an estimated 325,595 kWh of energy per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 27 average-sized households.  By replacing incandescent lighting with fluorescent, KTVU decreased the energy consumption in its television studio by approximately 45 percent.

SOURCE KTVU