IRVINE, CA, March 18, 2015 -- In light of at least 36 states facing water shortages this year, mayors across the country are encouraging residents to commit to conserve water and reduce pollution by participating in the "Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation," a 30-day, non-profit competition taking place throughout the month of April, aiming to drastically cut water and energy use throughout the nation (see "Water conservation challenge encourages cities to save water, compete for prizes").
Presented nationally by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota -- with support from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water, National League of Cities, U.S. Forest Service, The Toro Company, Wondergrove Kids, Bytelaunch, and WaterSmart Software -- mayors and officials nationwide are encouraged to challenge their residents to conserve water, save energy and reduce pollution on behalf of their city at www.mywaterpledge.com.
In addition to helping the environment, mayors earn bragging rights about winning the competition to see which leaders can best inspire their residents to make a series of informative, easy-to-use online pledges to reduce water and energy usage. Moreover, besides conserving water and energy, residents can win a new Toyota Prius Plug-In, water-saving fixtures and hundreds of other prizes by participating during the challenge period.
Last year, residents from over 3,600 cities in all 50 states pledged to reduce their annual consumption of freshwater by over 1 billion gallons, minimize waste sent to landfills by 36 million pounds, prevent more than 70 million pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 billion pounds. Participants have included mayors from Seattle, Houston, Denver, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Diego, San Francisco, Long Beach, Calif., and Miami.
To participate, residents enter the name of their city at the program's website then make a series of online pledges to conserve water on behalf of their city. Cities compete in five population categories: 5,000-29,999 residents; 30,000-99,999 residents; 100,000-299,999 residents; 300,000-599,999 residents; and 600,000+ residents. Cities with the highest percentage of residents who take the challenge in their population category are deemed the winner. Residents from those cities are entered to win an array of prizes and also discover resources in their area to further propel their commitment of conservation.
See also:
"National Mayor's Challenge winners honored for water-saving pledges"
"National water conservation challenge to focus on reducing water, energy consumption"
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