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In This Issue:
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Help Ecology Action continue to provide
innovative programs that benefit our
environment by making a tax
deductible donation now!
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Thunder Valley Casino Resort Wins Big
Casino realizes substantial energy savings with the CasinoGreen Program
- Michelle Morales, Program Manager, Energy Group
 Originally opened in 2003, Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Placer County recently remodeled and expanded their facility, reopening in 2010. Through the CasinoGreen program and with the help of PG&E representative Dave Hinshaw, Thunder Valley was able to retrofit all 1,062 fixtures in the renovated 3,700-space parking garage with energy-efficient lighting. The casino is also implementing several energy-efficient strategies for air handling and ventilation system controls, interior casino lighting and food service. The CasinoGreen program helps tribally owned casinos identify opportunities to install new energy-efficient products and implement recommended retrocommissioning and retrofitmeasures. Thunder Valley is also participating in PG&E's Base Interruptible Program (BIP), agreeing to shed facility load within 30 minutes during a demand response event where the state's electric grid is in danger of overloading.
With projected savings at this site of 2,241,543 kWh, 279.8 kW and 38,520 therms, rebates of $153,096, and a projected annual BIP program participation incentive of $900,000, CasinoGreen helps tribal casinos win big for the environment and the bottom line.
For more information about the CasinoGreen Program, please visit www.casinogreen.org |
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A Well-Rounded Commute: Rooted in Benefits
Fall Bike to Work/School Day is October 6th
- Nick Mucha, Program Specialist, Transportation Group
 Ecology Action is proud to host the 13th Annual Santa Cruz County Fall Bike to Work Day. The 2011 Fall Bike to Work/School Day events are expected to attract over 5,000 pedaling participants!
The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 6th from 6:30 am – 9:30 am.
For those new to bike commuting, Ecology Action offers online resources to help you make the leap to healthy, cost-saving and environmental transportation. Visit our bike resource page.
Bicyclists who ride their bikes to work on October 6th are treated to a free breakfast and coffee at any one of 15 public sites throughout Santa Cruz County. Many sites also offer free massages, bike maintenance and acupuncture. For a map of participating locations and other information visit the Bike to Work Day website.
Participants who complete a survey at a breakfast site or online are eligible to win a FREE Zipcar Membership – thereby giving you 'wheels when you want them' and enabling you to rely on your bike as your primary vehicle.
Bike to Work is now on Facebook!
Connect with the cause via Facebook: Bike2Work Santa Cruz |
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Boltage Gets New Traction
Popular bike/walk incentive program expanding to DeLaveaga Elementary
 - Jeanne LePage, Program Specialist, Transportation Group
Piloted last year at Gault (Santa Cruz) and Starlight (Watsonville) Elementary Schools, Boltage is expanding to DeLaveaga Elementary School in Santa Cruz this fall! Boltage is a powerful blend of technology and incentives that gets kids biking and walking to school on a regular basis. A solar-powered computer is mounted at each school site to count the students that participate. Enrolled students are issued radio frequency identification tags that are read by the computer on the days that the student walks or rolls to school. More trips add up to more prizes.
The program ran the entire 2010-2011 school year at Gault and for two months at Starlight. Just under 300 students enrolled and logged 9,720 trips, totaling 6,928 miles of non-motorized transport. Funded by grants from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, The Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust and SafetRoutes to School, we are delighted to welcome DeLaveaga to the Boltage program.
For more information on the Boltage Program, please visit the Safe Routes to School webpage.
or follow Boltage on Facebook. |
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Hoof Owners Organized For Stewardship (HOOFS) Volunteers take on Conservation Mission
to Protect Watersheds in their Communities
- Nick Sudano, Senior Program Specialist, Zero Waste / Pollution Prevention Group
- Hannah Hodgson, Program Coordinator, Zero Waste / Pollution Prevention Group
 Saddling up and riding out of College Station railroad camp, 19 horses and their owners headed into the exclusive trails carved out by Bud and Emma McCrary on Cal Poly's Swanton Pacific Ranch just north of Davenport. The ride celebrated over 343 hours of volunteer outreach to promote water quality protection, performed by Hoof Owners Organized For Stewardship (HOOFS) members. With almost three quarters of their goal of 480 hours of volunteer outreach completed, HOOFS members enjoyed a day off riding the trails with their friends and trusty steeds.
HOOFS members are actively working within their communities to assist friends, neighbors and peers to overcome typical barriers of managing livestock and equestrian facilities which include: challenging environmental site conditions, lack of peer support for protective site management practices, lack of information, lack of finances for technical assistance and historical co-locating of livestock near creeks and streams.
Read the rest of this article.... |
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The Martha Bedal Memorial Fund Celebrates Its One-Year Anniversary
- Kira Ticus, Program Specialist, Transportation Group
 Last year, Richard Bedal and Ecology Action announced the establishment of the Martha Bedal Memorial Fund, in honor of Martha Anne (Gaydowski) Bedal, who passed away in September 2009 after a courageous battle with cancer. Martha had been a treasured Bike Smart! volunteer for many years and donated countless hours to educating the community about bicycle safety and the benefits of riding. Contributions to the fund help support the Bike Smart! Youth Bicycle Safety Program. Since the fund was announced last September, over $11,000 has been donated. Bike Smart! would like to thank Richard Bedal and all other donors for their generous support.
To learn more about Martha's wonderful life or make a donation,
please visit the BikeSmart! website. |
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Walking School Bus Program to Pilot at Gault Elementary School
- Jeanne LePage, Program Specialist, Transportation Group
 For the first time ever, Ecology Action is beginning a Walking School Bus program at Gault Elementary in Santa Cruz. A Walking School Bus is a safe, organized group of children led by adult volunteers that walk a predetermined route with official stops. We are currently organizing a Beach Flats route and a Seabright route to lead Gault students to school two mornings a week beginning in October. Come on out and support this traveling school bus!
For more information, please visit the Safe Routes to School webpage. |
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Energy Upgrade California Builds on Successful Outreach
and Community Engagement
- Bunny Tavares, Marketing Communications Manager, Climate Group
 Building on the success of its first major outreach event in held in Sacramento with California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird as keynote, Energy Upgrade California—the statewide energy efficiency program that delivers tools and resources to improve efficiency, save consumers money and create green jobs—completed six similar events across the state.
Held in regions including the Central Coast, Central Valley, Southern California, North Coast and the Bay Area), each event was met with a strong turnout and garnered significant press attention. Attendees included homeowners, contractors, realtors, city and county officials and other professionals. At several events, additional workshops for contractors were offered. And in Ukiah, at Mendocino College attendees were able to see first-hand an upgrade in progress as they toured the College's demonstration house.
Plans are in full swing for a series of Energy Upgrade California events that will engage folks over the next several months on a smaller, more intimate level—attracting interested residents and contractors to homeowner, contractor and finance workshops and 'energy fair' type events.
Learn more about the program:
www.EnergyUpgradeCA.org
http://www.youtube.com/user/EnergyUpgradeCAweb |
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