Happy Birthday, Earth Day. AT&T* announced that it is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day through eco-friendly initiatives that include:
* Offering the award-winning AT&T ZERO Charger at 40 percent discount to any customer who brings in a wireless device for recycling in AT&T stores. Once the charger is available in AT&T stores this May, the discount will be available on one charger per customer.
* Sponsoring the Earth Day Network’s Earth Week event and hosting an interactive, solar-powered exhibit in Washington D.C. through 25 on the National Mall.
* Launching AT&T’s “One Million Eco Challenge,” a year-long program to engage one million youth around eco-friendly practices. AT&T customers can text ECO to 42345 to opt in for eco tips and Earth Week events provided by Earth Day Network and sustainability updates from AT&T. (Standard messaging rates apply.)
* Encouraging wireless users, nationwide, to recycle wireless phones and accessories with AT&T through any of its 2,000-plus retail locations or via att.com/recycle. And extending wireless recycling into the community via drives led by the AT&T Pioneers.
* Offering to have a tree planted for the first million AT&T customers who make the switch to paperless billing through its current promotion. This now includes having a second tree planted for the first 140,000 AT&T U-verse® TV customers who opt in to paperless billing through April 2010.
* Continuing its work in reducing packaging waste for wireless accessories, alternative-fuel vehicles, and energy conservation.
ZERO Draw Charger
AT&T announced the AT&T ZERO Charger in March. The charger does not waste power when left plugged in, and it improves charging efficiency when powering a device. A standard charger left plugged into a wall wastes electricity – enough to power 24,000 homes for a year, or brew three to four million cups of coffee each day.¹ The AT&T ZERO Charger will be available, exclusively, in AT&T stores by May 2010.
Engaging Youth
Also in honor of Earth Day, AT&T is launching its “One Million Mobile Eco Challenge” as the exclusive wireless sponsor of Earth Day Network’s Earth Day events at the National Mall in Washington D.C. through April 25. AT&T’s exhibit at the event includes a solar-powered charging station for wireless phones, showcasing free carbon footprint apps available on selected AT&T devices and eco-focused gaming.
To sustain its Eco Challenge through the rest of the year, AT&T will continue to engage youth via events and social media programs encouraging people age 13 to 24 to recycle wireless phones, have their families enroll in paperless billing, and use products like the ZERO charger that help conserve our resources.
Recycling Wireless Phones
Today, AT&T continues to offer wireless customers of any carrier the ability to drop off old cell phones at any of AT&T’s 2,000-plus retail locations across the U.S. Wireless users can also go to www.att.com/recycle to download free shipping labels or request that a free shipping envelope be mailed to them for recycling.
AT&T’s recycling work with consumers through its retail and online channels is gaining momentum: In 2009, it collected 24 percent more wireless phones and accessories through stores and att.com/recycle versus the previous year.
The customer-facing recycling efforts that AT&T offers through its stores, community drives and online tools add volume to its broader recycling work. In 2009, AT&T collected more than 4.2 million cell phones and almost 1.8 million pounds of batteries and accessories, overall. AT&T estimates it will collect roughly 14 million wireless devices for recycling by the end of 2011, which is the environmental equivalent of keeping more than 920 tons of primary materials out of landfills.****
Since Earth Day 2008, the AT&T Pioneers, a volunteer organization of more than 300,000 AT&T employees and retirees, has been working to expand AT&T’s cell phone donation drives in communities across the U.S. In that time, they have collected more than 26 thousand phones for recycling.
Paperless Billing
In March, AT&T challenged its customers to make the switch to paperless billing through its current promotion, and pledged to make a donation to have a tree planted for every customer who makes the switch — up to a million customers by the end of 2010. The offer was extended to AT&T residential home phone, broadband, AT&T U-verseSM TV, and wireless customers nationwide. If a million customers make the switch, this could save 400,000 pounds of paper, avoid 6 million pounds of greenhouse gases, and prevent 4 million gallons of wastewater from discharging into lakes, streams, and rivers in a year.** And, as announced earlier this month, a second tree will be planted for the first 140,000 AT&T U-verse TV customers who make the switch to paperless billing through April 30.
Slimmed Packaging, Alternative Fuels, and Energy Conservation
In March, AT&T announced its transition to smaller packaging for the wireless device chargers, cases, batteries and data cables it sells. AT&T estimates this will help avoid more than 200 tons of wasted plastic and paper in 2010, avoiding more than 1,100 cubic yards of landfill space — enough to house nearly 10 school buses — by the end of 2010. ***
In 2009, AT&T announced plans to invest up to $565 million as part of a long-term strategy to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over a 10-year period. AT&T also works to enhance energy performance and reduce energy consumption and has begun to use alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.
For more information about AT&T’s sustainability efforts, please visit www.att.com/sustainability or www.att.com/csr.
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