Discovery Communications’ “Planet Green” Announces Partnership with Oceana
Press Release Date: October 1, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:
Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter
Planet Green, Discovery Communications’ multiplatform environmental initiative, today announced partnerships with ten of the world’s leading non-profit environmental organizations and advocacy groups. Ashoka, Earth Pledge, Earthwatch Institute, Environmental Media Association (EMA), Global Green USA, Global Inheritance, National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Oceana, Ocean Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy will work with Discovery’s Planet Green on a broad range of activities and initiatives including grassroots community outreach, public affairs and content creation.
“From habitat preservation to sustainable business practices, these pioneering organizations have created an extensive network of resources and platforms dedicated to protecting and preserving our planet,” said Eileen O’Neill, president and general manager, Planet Green. “By joining the media resources of Discovery’s Planet Green with the extensive knowledge and connections of our new partners, it is our intent to find exciting new ways of inspiring people of all ages and lifestyles to take action.”
Working with each organization, Planet Green will leverage its television, marketing, digital media and education platforms to raise awareness for the critical issues facing the planet today and highlight action-based solutions and initiatives.
About Planet Green
Green Discovery Communications is a passionate advocate of preserving our earth and a leader in developing television programs that educate citizens about the best qualities of this place we call home. Discovery’s commitment to these issues reached new heights when it created Planet Green, a global, cross-company initiative dedicated to documenting, preserving and celebrating the planet. In 2008, Discovery Home channel becomes Planet Green – the first 24-hour eco-lifestyle channel dedicated to making a difference by providing tools, information and content that will enlighten, empower and most importantly, entertain. The channel will launch to more than 50 million homes.
Planet Green speaks to people who want to understand green living and to those who truly want to make a difference by providing resources to meet the critical challenge of protecting our environment. Planet Green’s platforms include leading eco-lifestyle website TreeHugger.com (http://www.treehugger.com)/and the recently launched solutions-oriented PlanetGreen.com (http://www.planetgreen.discovery.com/). Discovery will also launch Discovery Education Green, a K-12 service that hosts dynamic media content correlated to state standards. Discovery Education Green will help teachers integrate Green lessons into their curriculum and empowers students to make more environmentally conscious decisions.
About Planet Green’s Partners
Founded in 1980, Ashoka is the world’s working community of more than 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs. It champions the most important new social change ideas and supports the entrepreneurs behind them by helping them get started, grow, succeed, and collaborate. As Ashoka expands it’s capability to integrate and connect entrepreneurs around the world, it builds an entrepreneurial infrastructure that is supporting the fast-growing needs of the citizen sector. Ashoka’s vision is to create change today, for an “everyone a changemaker”TM society to become the reality of tomorrow. For more information, visit www.ashoka.org.
Earthwatch Institute (http://www.earthwatch.org/) is the world’s largest environmental volunteer nonprofit organization. Its mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Earthwatch was founded in Boston in 1971 and affiliate offices are based in the UK, Australia, and Japan. With approximately 120 projects fielding in more than 55 countries worldwide, Earthwatch focuses its research efforts on climate change, endangered species and resources, marine biology and ocean conservation, and threatened traditional cultures.
Earth Pledge, founded in 1991 as a committee for the United Nations Rio Earth Summit, is an eco-tech “do-tank” that partners with business, communities and governments to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices. They have a range of innovative initiatives that share one common objective: to demonstrate economic viability today and to make a real difference tomorrow. Earth Pledge works closely with organizations to help them understand and implement new techniques that reduce their environmental impact. Together, they are striking a balance between natural systems and human activity in nearly every aspect of our lives. By showing verifiable results, Earth Pledge intends to set new precedents for change on an even larger scale. Earth Pledge believes that by working together, we can achieve more, sooner. For more information, please visit www.earthpledge.org.
The Environmental Media Association (EMA) mobilizes the entertainmentindustry in a global effort to educate people about environmental issues and inspire them into action. EMA was created in 1989, as a non-profit 501(c)3, with the simple but powerful concept that through music, television and film, the entire entertainment community could influence the environmental awareness of millions of people. Through the use of weaving environmental messages within entertainment programming and utilizing “celebrity” for positive role modeling, EMA continues to have a profound effect on how the public receives environmental information. EMA serves as a valuable link between the entertainment industry and the environmental community. For more information, please visit www.oceana.org/typo3/www.ema-online.org.
Global Green USA, the American arm of President Gorbachev’s Green Cross International, was founded in 1993 to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future. For more than a decade, Global Green has been a national leader in advocating for smart solutions to global warming including green building for affordable housing, schools and communities. Global Green USA has influenced more than $20 billion dollars for green building projects and educates hundreds of millions of people about climate solutions through its annual Red Carpet/Green Cars Oscars campaign. Global Green is also leading efforts to help rebuild a green New Orleans as a model for rebuilding sustainable cities around the world. To learn more visit www.globalgreen.org.
Born in 2002, Global Inheritance is a 501c3 organization working to reinvent activism and empower individuals to seek a global balance. Their initiatives focus on the power of creativity to communicate and push for progressive social change. Global Inheritance targets various subcultures, developing campaigns that cater specifically to each individual demographic. Through interactivity, inspiration and education, Global Inheritance provides a bridge between ideas and action. For more information, please visit www.globalinheritance.org
National Wildlife Federation® (NWF) is America’s largest conservation organization, inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future. NWF unites individuals from diverse backgrounds through a grassroots network of 4 million members and supporters, and is joined by 48 affiliated state wildlife organizations. National Wildlife Federation’s programs educate and inspire people from all walks of life to conserve wildlife and wildlife habitat. NWF focuses its conservation work in three major areas to have the biggest impact on the future of America’s wildlife: confront global warming, restore wildlife and habitats and connect people with nature. For more information, please visit www.nwf.org.
Ocean Conservancy is the world’s foremost advocate for the ocean. Through science- based advocacy, research, and public education, we inform, inspire and empower people to speak and act for the oceans. Ocean Conservancy is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has offices in New England, Florida, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and California with support from more than half a million members and volunteers. For more information, please visit www.oceanconservancy.org
Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Oceana’s team of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America (Washington, DC; New York; Juneau, AK; Monterey, CA, and Portland, OR), Europe (Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium) and South America (Santiago, Chile). More than 300,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana. For more information, visit www.oceana.org
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at http://www.nature.org/.
