Verizon to Turn Off Lights in Company Facilities Around the World in Support of Earth Hour

NEW YORK, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- To support Earth Hour and help raise employee awareness of energy-efficiency opportunities, Verizon will turn off all nonessential lighting for one hour at more than 450 company locations around the world on Saturday (March 27).

Verizon expects to conserve more than 40,000 kilowatt hours of energy as a result of darkening approximately 30 million square feet from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time.

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour is an event in which millions of Americans will turn out their lights for one hour to support action on climate change and creating a cleaner, safer and more secure future. Now in its third year, the event in 2009 attracted more than 80 million participants in the U.S. and nearly a billion people around the world, as lights dimmed on such global icons as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney's Opera House, the Great Pyramids of Gaza and New York's Empire State Building.

(NOTE: A video   prepared by the World Wildlife Fund provides more information about Earth Hour.)

"Our ultra-fast broadband and wireless networks are playing increasingly important roles in helping our residential and business customers cut their carbon footprints, and we're equally committed to reducing our own," said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon. "That's why we're asking our employees and our customers to join us not just for Earth Hour but throughout the year to find ways to reduce energy and recycle at work and at home."

Reducing Verizon's Carbon Footprint

The company remains committed to finding practical and innovative ways to increase energy efficiency and bolster conservation efforts. For example, Verizon operates the largest fuel cell site of its kind in the nation. Using seven fuel cells, the company's Energy Star Award-winning facility in Garden City, N.Y., can generate enough electrical power per hour to meet the energy needs of 400 single-family homes.

Another of Verizon's ENERGY STAR rated facilities, Verizon's operations center in Basking Ridge, N.J., has earned the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Silver certification for the center's environmentally friendly design and energy efficiency.  The company operates nearly 46 Energy Star-rated facilities, including many retail stores across the country.

Other Verizon initiatives include:  

• Creating an industry standard – Verizon was the first telecommunications company to require that the network equipment it purchases be 20 percent more energy efficient.
• Employees have reduced engine idling, which has cut fuel consumption by more than 2 million gallons (equivalent to taking some 3,400 cars off the road for a year).
• Electronically delivering approximately 100 million bills to customers.

For more information on Verizon's commitment to the environment, visit the company's Green Press Kit at http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/green-press-kit/.

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 mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 91 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of approximately 222,900 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon