Girl Scouts San Diego, Feeding San Diego and Swinterton Renewable Energy launch ‘Climate Controller’ patch in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day
GIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO, FEEDING SAN DIEGO AND SWINERTON RENEWABLE ENERGY LAUNCH ‘CLIMATE CONTROLLER’ PATCH IN HONOR OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY
UNEP official endorses partnership that will inspire and educate girls about the importance of food rescue
SAN DIEGO (April 22, 2020) — Today, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Girl Scouts San Diego, Feeding San Diego and Swinerton Renewable Energy launched a new “Climate Controller” Girl Scouts patch. The new patch will inspire girls to learn about the linkage between food waste and climate change, helping them to become Climate Controllers through food rescue.
Satya S. Tripathi, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office at UN Environment issued the following statement endorsing the new patch. The Climate Controller patch addresses multiple sustainable development goals of the United Nations, including climate action, no hunger, responsible consumption and partnerships. The patch is also supported by the United Nations Association San Diego.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more people than ever before are experiencing hunger — heightening the importance of food rescue. Girl Scouts can earn their Climate Controller patch remotely with simple activities they can do in their own homes, such as taking a no food waste pledge, conducting a food waste audit, making recipes out of food that would otherwise go to waste, and growing vegetables from scraps.
“Girl Scouts’ mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place,” said Carol Dedrich, CEO of Girl Scouts San Diego. “The new Climate Controller patch is an excellent addition to our environmental, STEM and community service offerings. Through this exciting collaboration with Feeding San Diego and Swinerton, Girl Scouts in kindergarten through grade 12 will learn about the serious issue of food waste and discover how food rescue reduces environmental impacts.”
Food waste accounts for eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. When we discard still-edible food into the trash it ends up in landfills, where it generates carbon dioxide and methane. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 34 percent of all methane emissions in the U.S. come from landfills. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the U.S. and China.
“One in eight people in San Diego County face hunger, including one in six children, and yet 40 percent of all food produced is wasted — more than enough to end hunger,” said Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “By diverting nearly 26 million pounds of good food from the landfill last year, Feeding San Diego is able to nourish people across San Diego County facing hunger and simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23,020 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Feeding people and not landfills is good for humanity and the planet.”
VIDEO ENDORSEMENT:
- Satya Tripathi, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Head of New York Office at UN Environment: https://youtu.be/8xkkW1Wr-80
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Allison Glader, Feeding San Diego, (858) 229-1613, aglader@feedingsandiego.org
Mary Doyle, Girl Scouts San Diego, (619) 405-9446, mdoyle@sdgirlscouts.org
Scarlett Chepke, Swinerton Renewable Energy, (858) 815-2414, SChepke@swinerton.com
ABOUT FEEDING SAN DIEGO
Feeding San Diego is a non-profit organization on a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Established in 2007, Feeding San Diego is the leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization in San Diego County and the only Feeding America affiliate in the region. Feeding San Diego provides more than 26 million meals every year to children, families, seniors, college students, military families and veterans and people facing homelessness in partnership with a network of 300 local charities, schools, faith communities, meal sites and food pantries. Through an efficient model focused on reducing our impact on the environment, every dollar donated helps provide four nutritious meals to people in need. To learn more about Feeding San Diego and its hunger-relief initiatives, visit feedingsandiego.org.
ABOUT GIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO
Girl Scouts of the USA is the nation’s preeminent leadership development organization for girls, with a mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Through Girl Scouting, girls discover their inner G.I.R.L.TM (Go-Getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader). Girl Scouts San Diego provides year-round activities and volunteer training for 31,000 girl and adult members in San Diego and Imperial counties. Headquartered in Balboa Park, Girl Scouts San Diego maintains two camps in the Cuyamaca Mountains, a program center in Escondido and a service center in Carlsbad. Learn more at sdgirlscouts.org
ABOUT SWINERTON RENEWABLE ENERGY
Swinerton Renewable Energy (SRE) offers engineering, procurement, construction, and SOLV® services for solar photovoltaic plants throughout North America to a diverse range of clients. Over 130 years of building landmark projects, Swinerton has forged a reputation for unsurpassed safety, workmanship, ontime delivery, and customer satisfaction. Today, our team takes pride in building cost-effective solar systems that will generate reliable, clean power for many years to come. SRE has delivered over 5 GW of solar projects and our SOLV team manages over 7.5 GW of PV plants. Learn more about Swinerton Renewable Energy at swinertonrenewable.com.
