Area Residents Made Over 15,902 Pledges to Cut Water Use By 82.3 Million Gallons As Part of the 6th Annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, Presented by Toyota
The city of Flagstaff, Arizona, was named one of five national winners in the 6th Annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation by pledging to reduce their water use by 82.3 million gallons of water over the next year. The annual month-long public awareness campaign to promote drought resiliency and water quality ended on April 30 with mayors from 38 states vying to see whose city could be the nation’s most “water wise.”
Mayor Coral Evans said, “I am thrilled our city and the surrounding Flagstaff area won! We have made a commitment to save water with our pledges during Water Awareness Month and the entire year.” City Manager Josh Copley added, “I am very excited about our City Council and community’s commitment to water conservation and their willingness to take the pledge to make Flagstaff a winner in this year’s National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. I would like to recognize our Water Conservation staff who put in significant time and effort in hosting events and promoting the benefits of water conservation in our community.”
In addition to Flagstaff, the cities with the highest percentage of residents making pledges during the campaign included Laguna Beach, Calif., Athens, Ga, Aurora, Colo., and Dallas, Texas. Overall, residents around the nation, from Anchorage to the Florida Keys, made 421,891 pledges to change behaviors ranging from fixing home leaks to reducing harmful runoff into local rivers and streams.
The challenge, presented by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota, with support from the U.S EPA, National League of Cities, The Toro Company, Earth Friendly Products – maker of ECOS, and Conserva Irrigation, addresses the growing importance of educating consumers about the many ways they use water.
“This year’s challenge took a hard look at things we can all do to reduce our impact on our lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands,” said marine life artist Wyland, who founded the Wyland Foundation in 1993. “The more we can do to reduce harmful runoff into our water systems, the more we can provide long-term sustainable benefits to our communities.”
Residents from winning cities will be entered into a drawing for over $50,000 in water-saving or eco-friendly prizes, including the grand prize, a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-in Hybrid. Additional prizes include, “Greening Your Home” cleaning kits from Earth Friendly Products (ECOS), home irrigation equipment from the The Toro Company, EcoRain and Eco-Flow Showerheads from Waterpik, and more. A $500 home improvement store shopping spree will also be chosen from among the entire pool of U.S. participants.
In addition to reducing water, challenge participants in 50 states pledged to reduce the use of millions of 4.7 million single-use plastic water bottles and eliminate 114,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds. By altering daily lifestyle choices, pledges also resulted in potentially 52.5 million fewer pounds in landfills. Potential savings of 14.6 million gallons of oil, 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, 156.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity, and $35.5 million in consumer cost savings rounded out the final pledge results.
About the Wyland Foundation: Founded in 1993 by environmental artist Wyland (best known for his series of 100 monumental marine life murals), the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, brings communities together to become more solution-oriented stewards of our global marine resources. The foundation reaches hundreds of thousands of people each year through traveling exhibitions, classroom art and science programs, digital media, and community events. Learn more at www.wylandfoundation.org
About Toyota: Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016 – and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.