As part of its ongoing efforts to promote environmental sustainability through the use of technology, Cisco has launched two new Going Green, Staying Green programs, including one with a prize valued at $5,000. These initiatives are part of Cisco's One Million Acts of Green campaign, an online eco-community to facilitate individual acts that, when combined and done for a common purpose, can have a tremendously positive environmental impact.

  • The "Three to Green" Sweepstakes asks visitors to pledge, complete and share three acts of green with friends through the One Million Acts of Green website or Facebook application. For every three completed green acts, consumers can enter to win a $5,000 shopping spree on buygreen.com.
  • The "Green U" program presents a list of simple acts that can be done quickly, whether alone or with family, while it educates visitors about the site.
This new content marks the redesign and relaunch of One Million Acts of Green in the United States. Visitors to the site may pledge, complete and share more than 150 Acts of Green in five categories: Community, Home, Low-Cost, School, and Transportation.

In October 2008, Cisco launched One Million Acts of Green in Canada to show how easy going green can be for individuals, organizations and communities by completing green acts on their own while contributing to the greater good of environmental responsibility. Success with that project has prompted Cisco to extend the One Million Acts of Green program to the United States.

Cisco's involvement in One Million Acts of Green is a logical extension of the company's belief that technology can transform how people connect, communicate and collaborate to address the world's environmental challenges.

Cisco is committed to a high-level of environmental responsibility in operations, culture, products and customer solutions. To date, the company has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its worldwide operations 25 percent by 2012 and has already cut its emissions from business travel by more than 350,000 metric tons since 2006.

"At Cisco, we believe that technology can transform how the world manages its energy and environmental challenges, and that true impact will be achieved through the human connections the network enables," said Laura Ipsen, co-chair of Cisco's EcoBoard and senior vice president, general manager of Cisco Smart Grid. "One Million Acts of Green is an online eco-destination that takes advantage of this capacity for collaboration and creates measureable Acts of Green. It's important for people to know how their individual acts add up to make a big difference. With that direction, we expect One Million Acts of Green to be much more than just another green movement; we hope lives will change because sustainable green habits are formed."

"I just never thought about how easy it is to be more green," said Sommer Poquette, a stay-at-home mom and prelaunch user on One Million Acts of Green. "My kids and I have made it a game to check the outside temperature, the temperature number on the house thermostat, and then see if we can turn it up one degree and stay comfortable." Poquette continued, "We've learned to run around and close the window shades on hot summer days, turn off the faucet when brushing our teeth, and all these things -- we're using less electricity, less water, and spending less on utility bills, too!"