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In celebration of Earth Month, H2Orange, a bottled water company funding academic scholarships at the University of Texas at Austin, will offset carbon dioxide emissions (CO2 ) from key business activities in an effort to reduce its environmental impact. The bottled water company announced today it is continuing its partnership with Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of clean energy and carbon offset solutions, to offset 100 percent of its CO2 through 2012.
H2Orange will extend its agreement with Green Mountain by purchasing Green-e Energy certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and methane capture carbon offsets certified by Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate Action Reserve (CAR). These purchases will offset carbon emissions produced from the bottle manufacturing factory in Kansas City, Kan., electricity consumed in bottling the product, shipment, and distribution of the H2Orange product to retailers. H2Orange has been purchasing the offsets from Green Mountain since the water company’s inception in 2010.
“We believe in what Green Mountain Energy Company stands for. Purchasing offsets for the fuel and electricity we use in producing H2Orange, the Texas water that funds UT scholarships, makes sense and is a smart way to support sustainability,” said H2Orange Founder and President Steve Gurasich.
By taking a leadership role and partnering with Green Mountain, H2Orange is not only supporting the environment but also meeting economic goals as well.
“Because Green Mountain Energy Company is based out of Austin, Texas and we are excited to support H2Orange’s mission to provide scholarships to UT students while reaching environmental goals and exceeding environmental standards,” said Scott Martin, vice president of Commercial Services, Green Mountain Energy Company.“We are proud to support a company that is bringing improvements and opportunities to our fellow Texans. It also helps us further support our mission to ‘change the way power is made.’”
H2Orange’s efforts have helped the company offset approximately 1,220 metric tons of CO2. This is equivalent to:
• Taking nearly 3,000 cars off the road for one month;
• The amount of CO2 absorbed by over 160,000 trees in one year;
• Over 100,0000 houses turning off their lights for one week.
About H2Orange®
H2Orange® is Purified Texas Water in a bottle that is a scale-model replica of the iconic University of Texas at Austin Tower. Sales of H2Orange fund academic scholarships, fellowships, and internships at UT. H2Orange was created by Texas Exes Life Members and GSD&M Idea City co-founders Tim McClure and Steve Gurasich, who are majority shareholders in H2Orange LLC. The start-up company is run by family and friends, and funded by Investors/Ambassadors who include World Golf Hall of Famer and former UT golf prodigy Ben Crenshaw, former NCAA National Championship UT quarterback James Street, and legendary entrepreneur Red McCombs.
About Green Mountain Energy Company
Green Mountain (GreenMountain.com) , the nation’s leading competitive retail provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, was founded in 1997 “to change the way power is made.” The company is the longest serving green power marketer in the U.S. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of clean electricity products from renewable sources, such as wind, as well as a variety of carbon offset products. Green Mountain’s largest customer is the “world’s most famous office building,” the Empire State Building in New York City. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 11.3 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. As a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy, Green Mountain is back by one of the nation’s largest renewable power producers.
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marci.grossman[.]greenmountain.com 
