Slate Launches Second Green Challenge To Reduce Carbon Emissions

Nominated for a National Magazine Award, Back by Popular Demand

NEW YORK, April 16, 2007 — The Slate Green Challenge launches today, encouraging people to go on a seven-week “carbon diet” to shed unwanted pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Slate, the daily online magazine, in collaboration with the eco-Web site Treehugger.com, is again asking Americans to consider their own contributions to global warming, challenging them to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that individuals put into the atmosphere by 20 percent.

Last October, more than 30,000 people signed up for Slate’s Green Challenge, shedding more than 60 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. In response to feedback from readers, this year’s challenge will cast a wider net to give credit to the already CO2-conscious and offer more carbon-cutting actions to encompass everyone from apartment dwellers to bus riders to people in warmer climates.

"The United Nations says the average American is responsible for nearly four times the carbon-dioxide emissions of the rest of the world," said Jacob Weisberg, Slate's editor. "Last year’s challenge demonstrated the eagerness of our readers to take action on an individual level, and this year we’re hoping to make it even easier for them to do that. We are excited to be working again with our friends at Treehugger, who have been excellent partners."

Each week of the Green Challenge opens with a short quiz, followed by easy actions people can take to reduce their individual carbon output. Once participants have registered, Slate will monitor individual progress in losing carbon poundage and collective poundage lost by individuals taking the challenge. Those who miss the launch date may start at any point by taking the initial quiz.

"The Green Challenge is our way of showing the world that a sustainable decrease in toxic carbon emissions is accessible and relevant to everyone," said Graham Hill, founder of TreeHugger. "Our goal is not to scare or pontificate, but to educate and engage."

Slate was recently nominated for a National Magazine Award by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) in the area of General Excellence Online for the 2006 Green Challenge.

About Slate
Slate Magazine is an award-winning Web site that offers fresh angles on stories in the news and innovative entertainment coverage. Slate won the 2006 and 2005 EPpy awards for Best Internet News Service (over 1 million monthly visitors) and the 2005 EPpy award for Best Internet Entertainment Service (over 1 million monthly visitors). Slate can be found on the Web at www.slate.com and is owned by The Washington Post Company. Slate attracts over five million unique visitors each month.

About TreeHugger
TreeHugger is the leading online media company dedicated to everything modern yet environmentally responsible.  Their leadership has been recognized by the Bloggies, the Webbies, the Vloggies as well as Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Time, Domino, The Oprah Winfrey Show and many others. Offering environmental news, information, and tools to help people green their lives, TreeHugger brings sustainability into the mainstream.

About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to create truly interactive platforms that offer unmatched user experiences by developing editorial products with world-class reporting, multimedia features and award-winning content.
 
WPNI’s news and information sites, which include washingtonpost.com, Slate, Newsweek.com and Budget Travel Online, inform and encourage conversation and debate while reaching millions of unique and active users each month. WPNI properties’ long lists of awards include the first-ever Emmy for original video journalism online awarded to washingtonpost.com, as well as National Journalism Awards, Pictures of the Year International Award, several Digital Edge Awards, multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards and White House New Photographer's Association Awards, among others.

The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA

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