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The Knoxville Ice Bears and Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale announced today that the Ice Bears will be the face of the Knox County Green Team.  This new partnership is dedicated to encouraging Knox County citizens to become more environmentally conscious.

Knox County formed an internal Green Team more than a year ago for its employees to start the environmental awareness movement in this area. The movement gained momentum in September when the County signed a contract with Trane to undertake a massive energy efficiency project to upgrade all County facilities right down to traffic lights.

Trane has already begun working in Knox County schools to make them more energy efficient.  In just a few weeks, the company will begin construction on what will be one of the largest solar hot water farms in the country at the Sheriff’s detention facility.

To strengthen the “green” effort, Knox County created this partnership to make Ice Bears, the “spokesteam” of the public Knox Green Team.

“We are determined to make Knox County environmentally conscious in a way that saves our taxpayers as much money as possible.  That will let us spend more money on education and on community improvements," commented Knox County Mike Ragsdale today at a media luncheon where this partnership was announced. "After the success that we had with the internal Green Team, we decided to open it up to all Knox County residents, and we are excited to have our championship Knoxville Ice Bears onboard to help us promote this initiative,” Ragsdale added.

Today the Knoxville Ice Bears became the first people in the County to take the new Knox Green Team Pledge called “Take 8 for the Environment.”

The Knox Green Team pledge has four components:  Recycling, Water Quality, Air Quality, and Our Green Space.  Both the “Take 8” and the “Kids Take 8” pledges ask every Knox Countians to do specific things to help the environment.

Recycling
1. Be a player & recycle paper.
2. Kick the plastic!  Reusable shopping bags for me.

Air Quality
3. Switch OFF - Save ON by unplugging unused appliances.
4. Moderate the watts: 68°F (winter) & 72°F (summer).

Water Quality
5. Scoop the poop, don’t leave it on the ground.
6. Turn off the tap and save H20.

Our Green Space
7. Plant a tree and keep the world green.
8. Put litter in its place in parks and public spaces.

“We are glad to be a part of the Go Green initiative for Knox County. The Knoxville Ice Bears organization strives to participate in community service projects that benefit residents of Knoxville and Knox County. We are proud to call this area home, and we want to be a part of the initiatives that can improve this area. The Knox County Green Team fits that criteria, and we are  committed to doing what we can to encourage residents to take the pledge. In fact we just recently adopted a park, and we will be hosting a Go Green game in March,” said Knoxville Ice Bears president and general manager Mike Murray.

CW20 will also be assisting in the promotion of the Knox County Green Team.

For more information on the Knox Green Team, Take 8 for the Environment, and Kids Take 8 for the Environment, visit www.knoxgreenteam.org.  For more information on the Knoxville Ice Bears visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com.