Chill Out Campus Solutions to Global Warming

• Chill Out Home
• Archives
• Chill Out 2009

Chill Out 2009

Eight colleges and universities from across the United States won national recognition in the National Wildlife Federation's annual competition, Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming. This award program is the nation's only campus competition to promote sustainability and honor U.S. schools that are advancing creative solutions to global warming on their campuses.

• Watch the 2009 Chill Out Webcast
• 2009 Winners and Runners Up
• Video Entries on Go Green Tube
• 2009 Host Campuses
• Press Release: "Eight U.S. Colleges Win National Award For Campus Climate Innovations"
• Press Release: "Four California Campuses Win National Award for Campus Climate Innovations"

Environmental visionaries and advocates from higher education and the entertainment industry came together to celebrate the leadership of these campuses in a 30-minute webcast. The colleges will also receive a monetary award from the National Wildlife Federation.

"The scientific consensus points overwhelmingly to the need to dramatically curb our global warming pollution in the U.S. by 80 percent or more by 2050 or sooner," said Julian Keniry, Director of Campus and Community Leadership for the National Wildlife Federation. "We applaud these campuses for innovating the technical, design and behavioral shifts necessary to meet this daunting goal. Policy solutions alone are not enough; they must be informed by the unique melding of applied research, student energy, and willingness to experiment, all characteristic of our nation's best colleges and universities."

Chill Out participants have demonstrated effective solutions to global warming. Some treat the campus as a student laboratory for green education and training; others reach out to form supportive relationships with the surrounding community, green their transportation systems, and offer incentives to students to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"This competition and the creativity it represents will be a key part of how we can create a better world: a world with a vibrant, sustainable economy and a healthy earth for all future generations," said former Vice President and Nobel Laureate, Al Gore.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, MA won the Grand Prize for its "Lead by Example Sustainability Initiative," aimed at setting the standard for responsible management of non-renewable resources. The Academy has introduced sustainability issues into the curriculum and students learn proven strategies for reducing energy use both in the classroom and in real life. One of the school's many green initiatives is a 242-foot tall wind turbine, expected to generate 25 percent of the school's electricity needs and translate to a savings of $300,000 per year.

• Learn More about the 2009 Winners and Runners Up

The 2009 Chill Out webcast was shot by world-renowned cinematographer Eric Adkins ("Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow"), directed by Melissa Balin ("Green Means Go"), and produced by Melinda Esquibel of Mundo Maravilla, Carey Stanton of National Wildlife Federation, and Balin.

The webcast features an all-star cast of students, faculty and staff from the winning campuses and a broad range of advocates and activists in today's environmental movement, including:

• Academy Award-Winning producer Lawrence Bender
• Actor Courtney Gains ("Sibling Rivalry")
• Musician and composer Ethan Gold
• Comedian and host of Planet Green's "Wa$ted" Annabelle Gurwitch
• Musician Nick Jago
• Actor Efren Ramirez ("Napoleon Dynamite")
• Actor Alisa Reyes (Nick's "All That")
• Founder and CEO of Karmaloop.com Greg Selkoe
• Director, screenwriter and actress Angela Shelton
• Actor and stuntman Isaac Singleton, Jr.
• Producer, first president of eBay and founder of Participant Media Jeff Skoll
• Tony-Award-winning poet "Poetri" Smith
• Actor Douglas Spain (HBO's "Walkabout")
• Actor Michael Welch ("Twilight")
• Actor Jose Yenque ("Traffic")
• Actor Shawn-Caulin Young ("Dreams and Shadows")
• Austin band The Steps

The webcast is a low carbon footprint production, going well beyond the industry's sustainable filmmaking guidelines, and has been recognized by the Environmental Media Association's Green Seal Program for using the film industry's best environmental practices. The production used the Red Camera--a 4K camera system that is filmless and tapeless, cabling directly into a hard drive, eliminating wasted film, tape, and chemicals. The lighting was Lite Panels' LED system, and the lights and production were powered by solar energy thanks to a solar generator provided by Pure Power Distribution and a portable solar-capturing tent from FTL Solar. Even the teleprompters were made from recycled materials!

Campuses around the country are encouraged to host events to watch the green webcast. The program will be part of Earth Day-related events scheduled at more than 275 college campuses, high schools, and organizations nationwide and abroad.

• Find out who's hosting a 2009 Chill Out Webcast Event

Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming is proudly supported by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, ClimateCounts.org, Discovery's Planet Green and Playing in Traffic.

• Join students and faculty to register for and view the webcast, and learn how to take action throughout the year.

National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology Program has been an integral part of the campus greening movement since 1989. The nation's 4,100 colleges and universities educate more than 15 million students in any given year making these schools important laboratories for creativity and innovation—keys to tackling a monumental crisis like global warming.