For every web sign-up during the week of Earth Day, Green Mountain Energy Company will plant a tree to help support the environment
Austin, Texas – Planting trees is a powerful way to help the environment, improve communities, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Beginning today, Monday, April 18, through Friday, April 22, Green Mountain Energy Company will plant a tree, in partnership with American Forests, for each new customer who signs up online for Green Mountain Energy® electricity in Texas and New York City. AMERICAN FORESTS is the nation’s oldest nonprofit conservation organization.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with American Forests to plant more trees during Earth Week,” said Paul Markovich, president of Residential Services for Green Mountain Energy Company. “Earth Day is our favorite holiday and we want to encourage as many people as possible to sign up for clean energy and to help us fulfill our mission to ‘change the way power is made.’”
Customers can have a tree planted on their behalf by signing up at www.greenmountainenergy.com!
Planting trees is one of the easiest ways to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, beautify communities, and to improve air quality. To learn more about American Forests’ restoration projects, visit www.americanforests.org. Though the amount varies by type of tree and where it is planted, an average tree absorbs up to one ton of CO2 over its lifetime! By planting more trees this Earth Day, Green Mountain and its customers can work together to reduce CO2 emissions and to make a difference for the environment.
“Green Mountain and its customers have been an important part of American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program since 2000,” said Scott Steen, Chief Executive officer of American Forests. “As a direct result of our partnership with Green Mountain, we have been able to plant more than 140,000 trees to help replenish America’s forests, providing cleaner air and water for people and restoring vital habitat for our nation’s wildlife.”
Since 1997, Green Mountain customers purchasing cleaner electricity have helped prevent over 11.3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions from going into the atmosphere! This is equivalent to:
- Taking 382 million cars off the road for a day
- 3.4 billion households turning their lights off for a day
The History of Earth Day:
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When did Earth Day start in the U.S.? |
20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. |
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Why did it start? |
Senator Gaylord Nelson wanted the environment to be a higher priority for the American people and politicians. |
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When did Earth Day go global? |
On the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990, there were participants from 140 countries. |
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What is Earth Day like today? |
Earth Day has turned into a month-long celebration and people all over the world are attending events, participating in helping the Earth, and putting the environment at the top of their priority lists. |
About American Forests
American Forests’ mission is to grow a healthier world with trees by working with communities on local efforts that restore and maintain forest ecosystems. Our work encompasses planting trees, calculating the value of urban forests, fostering environmental education, and improving public policy for trees at the national level. We have a goal of 100 million trees planted by 2020.
About Green Mountain Energy Company
Green Mountain, the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, was founded in 1997 to “change the way power is made.” The company is the longest serving green power marketer in the U.S. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of clean electricity products from renewable sources, such as wind, as well as a variety of carbon offset products. Green Mountain’s largest customer is the “world’s most famous office building,” the Empire State Building in New York City. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 11.3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. As a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy, Green Mountain is back by one of the nation’s largest renewable power producers. For more information, visit www.GreenMountain.com.
