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Environmental Nonprofit and Music Tour Partner to Clean Up Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

EarthEcho International AND THE VANS WARPED TOUR® ARE INSPIRING TOMORROW’S environmental rock stars

WASHINGTON, D.C., (August 13, 2009) – EarthEcho International, an nonprofit environmental education and youth leadership organization working to restore and protect the world’s oceans, today announced a collaboration with the Vans Warped Tour and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to clean up the waterways surrounding Monterey Bay on August 18, 2009.

The third annual clean up will be led by more than 100 band and crew members from the Vans Warped Tour (http://www.warpedtour.com), the music industry’s most successful and longest-running domestic touring festival. It is part of a program that EarthEcho International is piloting with the Vans Warped Tour to engage pop culture heroes as champions for ocean conservation through the pioneering use of custom online technologies that can be used to meaningfully engage people in pro-environmental action in live-event settings and in their communities.  Bands participating in this year’s clean-up include Big D and the Kids Table, The A.K.A.s, Therefore I Am, TAT and The Architects.

“Ocean protection, conservation and restoration is the defining environmental crisis of the 21st century,” said EarthEcho International Co-Founder and CEO Philippe Cousteau. “Over the next 50 years, we must embrace the new promise of just, healthy, and abundant Oceans. EarthEcho International’s program with the Vans Warped Tour will inspire a whole new generation to take action to restore and protect our water planet.”

The clean up is one way for bands to be a part of “Warped ecoRoadie” (http://www.warpedecoroadie.com), a digitally-driven series of eco-challenges, in which bands and fans of the Vans Warped Tour will work together on teams to “clean up their acts” and have the biggest environmental impact. Throughout the course of this summer’s tour, EarthEcho has provided bands with online tools to communicate a range of action opportunities to their fans before, during and after the Vans Warped Tour, and to track and report on the collective impact of the direct action responses to these calls-to action. But the eco-challenges aren’t just for rock stars – anyone can participate. The result: events like the Vans Warped Tour are turned into catalysts for greening action nationwide.

Following is a schedule of events on August 18 for media planning purposes:
·         8:45 am PT: Participants meet leaders, divide into four groups and depart for sites.
·         9:30 am PT: Orientation at site, which will provide a general introduction to the sanctuary/watersheds, and how the activity they are doing helps protect the environment and sanctuary.
·         10:00 am -12:30 pm PT: Field activities – “CLEAN UP, PAINT, PLANT” – at these locations:

o    Bureau of Land Management
o    Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
o    CSUMB’s Watershed Institute/Return of the Natives
o    Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Stormwater & Education Alliance

·         12:30 pm ET: Participants depart.
·         After the clean up, participants will have the opportunity to tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium, throughout the day.

EarthEcho International
EarthEcho International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2000 by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau in honor of their father Philippe Cousteau Sr., famous son of the legendary explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau. EarthEcho International’s mission is to foster extraordinary leaders to take action to restore and protect our Oceans. For more information about EarthEcho International, visit http://www.earthecho.org.

Philippe Cousteau Philippe Cousteau is the 29 year-old son of Jan and Philippe Cousteau Sr., and the grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. As a member of the legendary family, Philippe is continuing the work of his father through EarthEcho International. In addition to EarthEcho Philippe is co-founder of Azure Worldwide (www.azureworldwide.com) a strategic environmental design, development and marketing company. Philippe is the Chief Ocean Correspondent for both the Animal Planet and Planet Green channels, where he works on various ocean and water-focused documentary programs. Philippe is currently a host for Oceans, a new High Definition series premiering on Discovery Channel in 2009. Along with his sister Alexandra Philippe is the host of Blue August 2009, an entire month of programming on Planet Green that celebrates our oceans. Philippe has been featured in television and radio programs across the country. He was recently named to Smithsonian Magazine’s list of “37 under 36, America’s Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences.” He and his sister were guest editors of the Women’s Health “Blue Issue” and he has written articles for many publications including Sport Diver Magazine and National Geographic Magazine and has lectured at such institutions as The United Nations, Harvard University, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Philippe has also testified to Congress on issues of ocean management and off-shore drilling. He was recently profiled by Bob Woodruff in an ABC News/Planet Green Channel special documentary entitled ‘Focus Earth: 6 People Saving Our Planet’. Philippe serves on the Board of Directors of The Ocean Conservancy, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, and the National Environmental Education Foundation.

VANS WARPED TOUR The VANS WARPED TOUR® is well established as America’s longest-running touring festival, breaking up-and-coming indie talent as well as showcasing established artists for the past 15 years. It has cemented its place in history by playing a major role in bringing punk-rock/skate/action sports culture from the underground to the forefront of American youth culture, while at the same time creating awareness and taking action towards environmental and other causes as well as helping those in need. Currently in its 15th year, the traveling punk rock summer camp features a diverse array of artists as well as a variety of lifestyle attractions for its traditionally low ticket price. http://www.WarpedTour.com.

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, designated in 1992, stretches along 276 miles of central California coast and encompasses more than 5,300 square miles of ocean area. Renowned for its scenic beauty and remarkable productivity, the sanctuary supports one of the world’s most diverse marine ecosystems, including 33 species of marine mammals, 94 species of seabirds, 345 species of fishes and thousands of marine invertebrates and plants. The NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov, which manages Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, seeks to increase public awareness of Americas marine resources and maritime heritage by conducting scientific research, monitoring, exploration and educational programs.

EarthEcho International Publicity Contacts:
Ben Goldstein                                       Ben.Goldstein@ketchum.com
Zachary Tindall                                     Zachary.Tindall@ketchum.com

Vans Warped Tour Publicity Contacts:
MSO Press Contacts:
Kristine Ashton-Magnuson                 kashton@msopr.com
Libby Coffey                                          LCoffey@msopr.com
Chelsi Schriver                                     cschriver@msopr.com
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