Safeway and the Go Green Initiative Partner for Earth Day Contest

PLEASANTON, Calif., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeway Inc. announces their partnership today with the Go Green Initiative to launch the first annual Go Green Glogster Earth Day contest. Students will be asked to investigate the sustainability of the food, water, or energy system in their community, and express their findings through videos, podcasts, blogs, music and photos compiled in a "Glog" (see www.edu.glogster.com). For the food system, students will examine the availability of locally grown and organic food in their neighborhood; food safety procedures at their local grocer; and the impact that higher fuel prices will have on the price of food where they live. Safeway is providing an organic garden to a winning school; a full-service, all natural BBQ for a winning class; and five (5) one-hundred dollar cash prizes to winning students.

"Safeway has worked very hard to bring more sustainable food choices to the communities we serve," says Safeway VP of Sustainability, Christy Consler. "Our sourcing team works to provide locally grown, natural, and organic choices throughout our retail outlets, and our consumer brands provide a wide variety of healthy, affordable, and more environmentally responsible food choices for families."

"Today, one in seven Americans is on food stamps, while childhood obesity is sharply on the rise," says Jill Buck, founder of the Go Green Initiative. "It's time to take a good hard look at the sustainability and success of the food systems that nourish our children. Who better to bring this issue into focus than the children themselves?"

 The Go Green Glogster Earth Day contest runs from March 23-April 22, 2012. For more information on entering, visit http://edu.glogster.com/contest/.

About the Go Green Initiative (GGI):

The Go Green Initiative is the global leader in fully comprehensive environmental action plans for schools, businesses, organizations and homes. By promoting environmental stewardship on campuses from preschools through universities, the GGI works to involve families, businesses and local governments in the common goal of protecting human health through environmental stewardship. Since its inception in July 2002, the Go Green Initiative has been endorsed by the National School Boards Association, National Recycling Coalition, adopted by nine State PTA Boards, implemented in all 50 U.S. states, 71 countries and on 5 continents. The Go Green Initiative has kept more than ten million pounds of recyclables out of the world's landfills, conserved 25.7 million gallons of water; reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3,800 metric tons; conserved 34,500 barrels of oil; and saved over 67 billion BTUs of energy.  These accomplishments were achieved voluntarily, with no mandates or legislation, showing that "going green" is practical and simply makes sense. There are currently over 2.5 million students and teachers in registered Go Green schools.

More information is available online at www.GoGreenInitiative.org.

About Safeway

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales. The company operates 1,678 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $43.6 billion in 2011.

Media Contact:
Jill Buck, founder & CEO, Go Green Initiative Association
Cell: (925) 487-0777
[email protected]
Twitter: @jillbuck

Teena Massingill Director, Public Affairs, Safeway
925-467-3810
[email protected]

SOURCE Safeway Inc.