News Releases - 2002

Green Pays on Green Days "Kicks Off": Environmentally-Friendly "Green Days" Prizes Unveiled

Chicago, Ill. -- A "super ultra low emissions" electric hybrid Honda Insight vehicle and ENERGYSTAR® high-efficiency appliances from Sears, Roebuck and Co. are the top prizes for citizens in the Chicago Metro area who "take the Clean Air pledge" and participate in the "Green Pays on Green Days" program this summer, Governor George H. Ryan announced today.

"This program encourages the continued strong citizen participation in actions that contribute to cleaner air and has resulted in historic progress by the Chicago area towards achieving clean air standards," Governor Ryan said.

"We expect Green Pays on Green Days will be a fun and educational program that will be easy to enter either on-line or through mail-in entry forms," said Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Renee Cipriano.

Residents of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, Grundy, McHenry and Kendall counties in Illinois may enter the drawings by pledging "green actions" such as carpooling or taking public transit, refueling after dark, deferring gas-powered lawn mowing, and conserving energy.

The prizes are being provided through contributions from Illinois businesses and organizations.

From May 27 through September 2, drawings will be held for daily prize packages on days when "green" or "good" air quality has been forecast. There will also be monthly drawings for June, July and August, and the grand prize drawing after Sept. 2.

"The prizes themselves embody the low-emissions, energy-saving approaches that will mean continued improvement in the quality of our air in the Chicago area," Director Cipriano added.

The pledge/entry forms can soon be submitted online at the NBC5.com web site or through mail-in forms on the weather page of the Friday Chicago Sun-Times starting this week, or on Green Pays on Green Days posters. The entries are good for daily and monthly prizes, as well as the grand prize.

Illinois EPA and Partners for Clean Air, a coalition of more than 300 companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies that encourages actions to reduce pollution on days when weather is conducive to high smog levels, is sponsoring Green Pays on Green Days.

The grand prize, a 2002 Honda Insight, donated by Grand Honda of Elmhurst, is an electric hybrid car that gets 57 miles per gallon and has been recognized as the "greenest vehicle" by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, as well as an Excellence in Environmental Engineering Award from the Sierra Club.

Monthly prizes, made possible in cooperation with Sears, are high-efficiency ENERGYSTAR® appliances.

They include a Kenmore refrigerator, washer, dryer, and dishwasher, a Panasonic 36-inch TV, home theater system, and CD system.

In addition, a daily prize package, with such items as an ENERGYSTAR® TV/VCR combo, a programmable thermostat, a mass transit check, and many other environmentally-friendly products will be awarded on each day forecast as a "green" or "good" for air quality in the Chicago area from May 27 through Sept. 2.

Director Cipriano noted that Illinois EPA will soon be asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to formally redesignate the Chicago area as being "in attainment" for meeting the one-hour federal health standard for ozone. Measurements at more than 20 air monitoring stations in the region for the past three years demonstrate the attainment requirement has been met.

The Chicago area would be the first in the nation to go from a "severe nonattainment" designation given under the 1990 federal Clean Air Act amendments, to attainment designation. It would also be the largest metro area in the nation to achieve attainment-six years ahead of the federal deadline and several other major metropolitan areas around the nation.