Verizon Supports Earth Hour to Raise Worldwide Awareness of Sustainability

NEW YORK, March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of Verizon employees worldwide will join the millions of people in 152 countries supporting Earth Hour on Saturday (March 23).  Starting at 8:30 p.m., 600 Verizon buildings across 41 countries will turn off the lights for one hour, helping to raise sustainability and energy-efficiency awareness.

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour encourages millions of people to become green citizens for a better tomorrow.  "Through a simple gesture of turning off the lights, Earth Hour brings together hundreds of millions of people around the world to send a united and powerful message: We all need to care for our planet," said Terry Macko, senior vice president of communications and marketing, World Wildlife Fund. "We stand with individuals, communities, governments and businesses that embrace Earth Hour each year and take this opportunity to challenge both themselves and others to live more sustainably. 

"By participating in the largest environmental action in history, we all show our commitment to positive actions which protect our environment," Macko said.

During Earth Hour, the illuminated Verizon and MetLife signs at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will be turned off.  Verizon will also dim the lights and signs at its Pearl Street building in Manhattan, call center in Pittsburgh and corporate campus in Basking Ridge, N.J., and at company sites in Dortmund, Germany, and Reading, England.

"Verizon's annual involvement in Earth Hour is a reflection of our employees' commitment to be green citizens, and the company's work to meet its aggressive sustainability goals," said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon. "By encouraging employees to join us in initiatives such as Earth Hour, we have fostered an employee Green Team of more than 10,000 members who are passionate about of living greener lives."

A Track Record of Sustainable Business Practices

Earlier this week, Verizon announced its new MAGIC Bus program in New York City, an initiative that aims to ease traffic congestion, free up parking spots, and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.  This year, Verizon also became one of the first companies to partner with the Department of Energy in the EV Everywhere Workplace Charging Challenge, and revealed its new electric work van at the Detroit Automotive Show.  The electric vans will be tested and utilized in New York and New Jersey.

Over the past four years, Verizon implemented a myriad of solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of its fleet, including vehicle technologies like all-electric, hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, and processes such as improved routing, reduced idling, and improved tire-efficiency and pressure monitoring.

In addition, Verizon has a robust sustainability strategy, which includes free recycling rallies that have collected more than 1 million pounds of e-waste; an aggressive commitment to various ENERGY STAR programs resulting in more than 115 ENERGY STAR-certified stores; a wireless phone trade-in program, which has collected more than 1 million phones; and Verizon's HopeLine program, which provides no-longer-used wireless phones into support for victims of domestic violence. The strategy supports Verizon's goal of cutting by 50 percent its carbon intensity – the company's main sustainability metric that measures the amount of energy needed to transport a terabyte of data over its networks – by 2020.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 98 million retail connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 183,400.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon