How NBC Universal is Taking Action
Close to 4000 blogs representing 125 countries and over 28 million readers are participating in Blog Action Day, and we’re proud to be among them. But for us, every day is an action day because we are constantly attempting to reduce our overall environmental impact. Here are just a few ways we’re reducing our water consumption.
At Universal Orlando, we have installed storm water treatment devices covering 80% of our 400 acres so that trash and sediment carried by runoff is retained and managed onsite and not discharged into nearby water sources.
While in Atlanta at the Weather Channel’s HD broadcast facility, a LEED-Gold Certified building, there is an underground pond pumping water out to the surrounding landscape. The pond is used for irrigation purposes only when natural rainfall isn’t available.
In a related area, we have gone a long way toward eliminating the use of plastic water bottles companywide. We are now transitioning to water filtration units instead of purchasing single use plastic water bottles across our facilities. Our TV and film productions are undergoing a similar effort–utilizing reusable water bottles and water filtration units (unless circumstances don’t permit) on set.
We’re all looking forward to our upcoming Green Week, November 14-21, when NBC Universal will be informing and entertaining our audiences on local, global and environmental issues. We’re excited to be showcasing Harmony, a new feature film and television special, in an unprecedented association with HRH The Prince of Wales. Based on his book of the same title, it chronicles Prince Charles’ three decades of work to combat climate change and find innovative solutions to the global environmental crisis.
“Breathtaking,” says BMW. “I shall call him… Mini-E.” With that, BMW jumps into the electric car derby, unveiling its electric version of the Mini Cooper. The high-profile test program/publicity stunt will involve a limited run of 500 of the electric cars, to hit the streets of southern California and New York in January.
This one’s tech is a lot like the Tesla, with 5,088 lithium ion batteries stuffed inside, powering a 150kW electric motor. That results in acceleration that’s enthusiastic but not jaw-dropping, going from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. The rest of the car looks a lot like the stock Mini Cooper, except for those blaring electric car graphics that let all onlookers know how this go-kart gets its kick.
The 500 cars will be leased to glamorous customers in hopes of attracting attention to the fact that BMW is, you know, doing something about electric cars. After this year-long Mini E test is done, BMW says it’ll build an electric car from the ground up, but didn’t say what would happen to these cute little electro-buggies.
Read the rest of Charlie’s blog on DVICE.com
A fun video blog by the sustainability advocacy company The SOAP Group and GoodFocus exploring green tips for living smarter in a consumption crazy culture.
By Nicole Walters, GreenisUniversal.com
It seems everything is rising these days – the national debt, gas prices, temperatures and tempers. Fortunately, I haven’t been too badly affected by the gas prices because I drive a total of about 8 miles per day – to and from my local train station. Still, the $60 receipt when I filled up my tank last week did make me cringe. Just about two months ago it was usually $40 and I’ve begun to reminisce to anyone who will listen about when I was in college and could fill up my tank for $10. Ah, those were the days…
As gas prices soar over $5/gallon in some areas more Americans are viewing public transportation as a viable and convenient option for traveling. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been commuting to NYC by train for almost 2 years now and by my calculations, if I had been driving all that time, I would have spent an extra $10,000! I used this nifty trip gas price calculator from AAA, added tolls, parking costs and took into consideration gas price averages of last year.
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