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Earth Hour is a global event designed to raise awareness of energy conservation and garner support for action on climate change. Starting in 2007, the World Wildlife Fund has issued a call to turn off non-essential lights and appliances for an hour on the last Saturday of every March — this year at 8:30 pm on March 31. We see our participation as a far-reaching symbol of our commitment to energy conservation and a reminder of how even small actions can have meaningful results: during last year's Earth Hour, we saved an estimated 45,000 kilowatt hours, enough to power four houses for almost a year.
This year we will darken floors in almost 600 office buildings and facilities, and extinguish lights and signs outside major offices from Manhattan to Texas to California to Germany and the United Kingdom.
Our commitment to sustainable business practices goes on every day, of course. As outlined in our Annual Report, we've committed to significant environmental goals: by 2015, 15 percent of our vehicle fleet will run on alternative fuels, and by 2020 we'll reduce our carbon intensity — our energy use measured against the amount of data running over our networks — to half what it was in 2009. Last year alone we reduced our energy use by 240 million kilowatt hours — the equivalent of powering more than 20,600 homes for a year.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. From designing energy-efficient set-top boxes to reducing the cardboard in product packaging down to reducing the weight of equipment carried on our repair trucks, we're tackling energy and environmental issues on every front. And we're applying our networks and technology to help utility companies manage energy use as well. In this way, we can help communities avoid brown-outs through smart energy management.
But I've shined enough light on the topic for today. Let's all get ready to go dark Saturday night.
To view vital speeches given by our authors, visit our speeches page.
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Kathy Brown
S.V.P., Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility
Kathy leads Verizon's global corporate responsibility initiatives and policy development. She also oversees the Verizon Foundation.
James Gowen
Chief Sustainability Officer/
V.P. of Services Operations
James oversees Verizon’s supply chain, vehicle fleet, investment recovery, purchasing and materials management and sustainability initiatives.
Rose Kirk
President, Verizon Foundation
Rose leads Verizon's philanthropic strategy with an emphasis on projects that demonstrate the use of Verizon's technology in addressing social issues such as education, domestic violence prevention and online safety. The Verizon Foundation is one of the 15 largest corporate foundations in America.
Jack McArtney
Director of Corporate and Community Responsibility
Jack promotes digital wellness and online safety. He works with parents, educators, service providers, application developers and industry leaders to foster responsible use of Verizon's mobile and broadband networks.
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