Juergen Barbusca, manager of communications at Cox Las Vegas and Cox Conserves committee member, presents Tara Pike, manager of UNLV’s Rebel Recycling Program, with a thank you plaque for her presentation on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

On April 22, the employee-led Cox Conserves committee celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with an indoor, mini Earth Day fair, news conference and the distribution of 2,600 compact florescent light bulbs to 1,300 employees of Cox Communications, Cox Business and Cox Media in Las Vegas.

To help highlight the importance of the milestone, environmental anniversary, Cox Conserves asked Tara Pike, sustainability coordinator/solid waste and recycling manager at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), to make a public presentation during the news conference.

As a thank you for her participation, which helped focus media attention on the Cox Conserves initiative, Pike was presented with a well-deserved appreciation plaque. In addition to a commemorative inscription, the plaque contains a front-page reproduction of the “Gaylord Nelson Newsletter” from May 22, 1970—the very first Earth Day. Nelson, a Wisconsin Senator, is considered the father of Earth Day and someone whom Pike has admired for many years for his pioneering environmental activism.

Pike’s own pioneering ways were responsible for the establishment in 1995 of the “Rebel Recycling Program” on the UNLV campus. The recycling initiative has grown tremendously over the years and earned Pike many accolades.

Cox Conserves celebrates its first Earth Day

Members of the Cox Conserves Committee place one of three Desert Willow during their first Arbor Day celebration.

Cox Conserves, an employee group striving to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, celebrated its first official Arbor Day together by planting three, drought tolerant Desert Willow in front of the main entrance of Cox Las Vegas at 1700 Vegas Drive (intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Vegas Dr.) on April 30.

While Arbor Day has been celebrated every year in the U.S. since 1875, the three year old Cox Conserves employee committee acknowledged just its first celebration of trees this year and hopes to establish a tradition of honoring trees and greening the earth on this special day in the years to come.

A bronze plaque near the building entrance marks the spot where this first planning took place. Cox landscaping company Valley Crest donated the trees and decorative rock.

Hang tags provide special parking

Club Ride carpool participants won’t have to worry about getting to work extra early or circling the parking lot anymore in order to get the best spot because now they’ve got 10 spaces of reserved parking to choose from. Creation of special parking privileges for Cox carpoolers is one additional element of the Club Ride Commuter Services program that was implemented by the cable company’s Las Vegas office.

In early July, 10 special parking spots were created in front of Cox’s main building at the corner of Vegas Dr. and Owens Dr. Only vehicles displaying the Club Ride hang tag and that have arrived carrying two or more passengers are allowed to park in these highly convenient spaces.

Sign-ups begin for Club Ride

Club Ride Commuter Services is a free program of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) that is designed to help reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and mobility, encourage the use of commute alternatives (such as carpooling, vanpooling, taking transit, etc.), and ultimately create a more sustainable community.

Through Cox Conserves, Cox Las Vegas has joined over 200 businesses and organizations valley wide to become a member of the Club Ride program. Cox employees began signing-up for Club Ride on April 29, 2009—there are now nearly 70 members at the cable system.

Participation in Earth Hour 2009

At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2009, businesses and residents across Southern Nevada stood with hundreds of millions of people in observing Earth Hour. Cox has a presence in most of Earth Hour's 10 key U.S. cities including Las Vegas but also Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. And Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Communications, was a national sponsor of the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour 2009S.