FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

Tucson Currently Ranked #1 in 2013 National Mayor’s Challenge
for Water Conservation

With less than two weeks remaining, residents of Tucson have kept the city in the top ten ranking in the 2013 National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. Tucson was ranked #1 among cities with a population between 300,000 – 600,000 as of Friday, April 19.

The challenge, April 1-30, is a friendly non-profit competition that challenges U.S. city leaders to see who can best inspire their residents to reduce water and energy usage through a series of informative, online pledges at
www.mywaterpledge.com.

City standings are listed in real time throughout the month. A participating mayor is not a requisite to win the challenge.

Residents from cities with the highest percentage of participants in their population category (5,000-30,000, 30,000-100,000, 100,000-300,000, and 600,000+) are entered in drawings for $50,000 in environmentally-friendly prizes, including a Toyota Prius c, water-saving fixtures, and shopping sprees at Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores.

The challenge is presented nationally by Wyland Foundation and Toyota, with support from National League of Cities, CH2M Hill WaterMatch, Rain Bird Corporation, Lowe’s Home Improvement stores, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Last year, residents from 1,000 cities in all 50 states pledged to save over a billion gallons of water, reduce their use of single use plastic water bottles, and eliminate 60,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds.

To see city standings in real time, visit mywaterpledge.com and scroll to “City
Rankings” at the bottom of the home page.

About the Wyland Foundation
Founded in 1993, the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, is actively engaged in teaching millions of students around the county about our ocean, rivers, lakes streams, and wetlands. The foundation’s latest project, FOCUS (Forests,
Oceans, Climate – and us) brings together the U.S. Forest Service, NOAA, and numerous non-profits to teach young people about the future of our water supplies, climate, and global health.

www.wylandfoundation.org
Media Contact:
Steve Creech
(949) 436-2489
steve.creech@wylandfoundation.org

I heard about this water pledge at the 2013 Water Festival at Reid Park, and now that Tucson is currently in first place, it’s time to urge our readers to take the online pledge to keep Tucson in first place & become the winner for 2013. Tucson placed #6 in 2012. You can also pledge via Tucson city website: www.tucsonaz.gov/water/take-the-pledge, which I just did. It’s free and simple to do.

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild is participating in this challenge, and is asking for your pledge. He spoke yesterday at the 2013 Earth Day/Water Festival at Reid Park.

Take the pledge, to help conserve water.

4th Annual Water Festival (in partnership with Earth Day Festival at same time, same place)
SUNDAY • APRIL 21 • 9AM – 2PM

Reid Park DeMeester Outdoor Performance Area
(Country Club Road, N. of 22nd Street, Tucson)
FREE to attend!

YOU’RE INVITED to participate in Tucson Arts Brigade’s 4th Annual Water Festival, integrating art, science and culture to raise awareness, promote stewardship, and foster creative expression about our water future. This year, The Water Festival is partnering with the Earth Day Festival at Reid Park!

THE WATER FESTIVAL is the ONLY large-scale community event in Pima County that showcases creativity and water solutions together and is a prime opportunity to engage the public through diverse activities for learning, networking, and family fun!

• Exhibitor Fair
• Performances
• Art Show
• Music
• Speakers
• Workshops
• Kids Activities
• 3-Mile Walk for Water (8am-9am)
• Cultural / Spiritual Connections
• Design for Water Solutions Contest
• “The Vibe” LIVE Art Happenings
• Fun Surprises & Special Guests!

I’ve been to this cool, refreshing festival in the past and even got to see Mermaid Odette in her portable pool. 4th Annual Water festival sponsored by Tucson Arts Brigade. More info at: http://www.waterfestivaltucson.org/ or call 520-623-2119, info@waterfestivaltucson.org. This festival integrates water, art, science, and culture to raise awareness about water use and resources.

More info on 19th Annual Earth Day at www.tucsonearthday.org, 520-206-8814,
info@tucsonearthday.org.

Join the Parade
All species great and small-insects, plants and animals-the Earth needs them all! Dress-up and participate in the “All Species Procession” as part of the Earth Day Parade! Make a banner and tell us how your species is so important to Planet Earth. Are you helping clean the air (trees and plants)? Are you an endangered or threatened species? The ice may be melting your home (global warming) or maybe there hasn’t been rain in a while so you are affected by drought or the threat of fire… let us know what we should do to help all species have a place on earth! Parade begins at 10:00 and winners are announced at 11:30.

Solar Competition
Model Solar Electric Cars and Houses, designed and constructed by middle school students, are real world engineering projects. The kits contain solar cells, motors, batteries, lights and other optional parts. The design and the construction is “left to the ingenuity of the student”! Competition begins at 10:45. Awards at 1:00!
For a kit order form and information on how to enter email Stacey at solar@swetucson.org

Alternate Fuel Vehicle Show
Check out vehicles that run on alternate fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and waste vegetable oil. Ask the experts how you can start using an alternate fuel in your vehicle to keep the air clean for all.

Bike to the Zoo
Animals love the earth and need clean air too! So, ride your bike to the Reid Park Zoo and get FREE admission by showing your safety helmet. Before or after visiting the zoo, ride over to the Earth Day Festival for more fun!

Celebrate Mother Earth, and water– her most precious resource.

Email from Solar Rock organizers:

Dear Solar Rock participants,

Rock bands can’t perform in the rain, and that’s why we’ve decided to cancel this year’s Solar Rock event. Also, we didn’t want to put our food vendors in a position to lose money and, most importantly, we were worried the strong winds (45 mph gusts are predicted) would present a safety hazard with all the tents our vendors would set up in the park.

We were hoping the storm would pass us by, but that now looks very unlikely. I hope our decision to cancel the event today, rather than waiting until the last minute on Sunday morning, will allow some of you to save a little money or, at the very least, give you time to plan something else fun for your Sunday afternoon.

Thank you all for your support of Solar Rock this year and in the past. I’m not yet sure if we’ll try and do another solar-powered event this year (we do have 200 Solar Rock t-shirts to unload), but if we do I’ll let you know.

If you’re bummed that you missed a chance to learn about the many benefits of solar power, I’d suggest attending the Solar Potluck organized by Citizens for Solar in April. More on that event here: http://citizensforsolar.org

Cyclovia and the Water Festival will still go on as planned.

Regards,

Coley Ward | Marketing + Membership Manager | Food Conspiracy Co-op | (520) 624-4821

And Coley added that vendor fees will be refunded.

For my previous blog about the March 18 events (click here). The Gloo Factory open house will also still go on, 2 to 6 p.m., along w/ Cyclovia and the Water Festival.

If you want one of those 200 Solar Rock t-shirts mentioned above, contact Coley. And plan on attending that Solar Potluck on April 28, at Catalina State Park (11570 N. Oracle Road, near Mile Post 81), 10:00 am – Sunset.