Virgin Mobile Festival Helps Attendees 'Find Their 'G'reen Spot' with Incentives for Attendees to Carpool

Virgin Mobile Festival Helps Attendees 'Find Their 'G'reen Spot' with Incentives for Attendees to Carpool

Virgin Mobile USA Partners with I.M.P., Toyota, Kyocera, and Clean Vibes

Two-Day Music Event Incorporates Highest Standards of Sustainability to Reduce Impact on Environment

Promoter I.M.P Sets Up Carpooling 'Powered by Toyota' to Encourage Ride-Sharing with Free Parking, Free Shuttle Rides in Hybrid Vehicles & Other Goodies at the Festival

NEW YORK and BALTIMORE, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Virgin Mobile Festival will, once again, be more than just a two-day extravaganza of music and excitement. The event continues to aim high in its quest to minimize impact to the environment while educating Virgin Mobile Festival-goers on the simple but important steps which individuals, groups and public events can take to be more eco-friendly.

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Virgin Mobile USA and concert producer I.M.P. are partnering with Toyota, Kyocera Wireless and Clean Vibes to help Virgin Mobile Festival attendees to find their "G"reen Spot as they enjoy the weekend's packed slate of A-list musical talent including Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Stone Temple Pilots and Kanye West, engaging exhibitions, top deejays and more at the historic Pimlico Race Course(R) on August 9-10, 2008 in Baltimore.

A special Virgin Mobile Festival carpooling initiative organized by I.M.P. allows attendees who purchase four tickets together to enter the promotional code "CARPOOL" upon checkout and receive a free parking ticket worth $25. Carpoolers can also go to http://www.virginmobilefestival.com/toyotacarpool to print out a Carpool Voucher for a chance to win VIP upgrades and more through the Virgin Mobile Carpool Sweepstakes powered by Toyota.

Festival-goers from the area don't even have to drive. A fleet of 10 Toyota hybrid vehicles, along with other MTA shuttles, will be available to pick Festival-goers up from local MTA stations and shuttle them to the front gate. Toyota hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles will also be on display at the festival grounds for visitors to check out the many benefits of driving green.

Additional incentives are in place to get concert-goers to Pimlico Race Course in an environmentally friendly manner, including the use of PickUpPal (http://events.pickuppal.com/Virgin-Mobile-Festival-Baltimore) to help people find others in their area interested in carpooling and giving those who take public transportation a free cotton Green Spot tote bag when they show their Metrocard or receipt at the Green Spot.

How You Can Find Your Green Spot

In addition to Virgin Mobile Festival, I.M.P. has been at the forefront of blending environmental awareness with large scale events. Recently recognized for deploying solar energy to power the popular East Coast concert venue Merriweather Post Pavilion, I.M.P. shares Virgin Mobile USA's commitment to create an incredible, environmentally-conscious entertainment experience.

A team of 100 volunteer "Green Angels" will be onsite throughout the Festival to monitor waste diversion efforts and provide consumer information, courtesy of Clean Vibes, which specialize in responsible waste management at outdoor festivals and events. Some of the many Green initiatives planned at Virgin Mobile Festival with the help of premiere handset sponsor Kyocera Wireless include:

-- Best efforts to eliminate trash: Items that usually become trash at concerts are being replaced with compostable products made from renewable sources. Examples include plates made of sugarcane (called Bagasse), cups made of corn (called Bioplastic), utensils made of wheat and potato, and straws made from plants instead of petroleum.

-- Food and food service items composted locally: The Virgin Mobile Festival team is partnering with local experts and a nearby facility for the handling and transport of compost.

-- Water: Festival-goers are encouraged to bring two factory-sealed water bottles with them to the Festival that can be filled at one of the water refilling stations available.

-- Waste Reclamation Stations: Thirty such stations will be located throughout the event grounds. All food and food service waste will have a second life, and all recycling will be collected "single stream" (that is, one waste receptacle takes all kinds). Each station will be staffed by a Green Angel volunteer trained by Clean Vibes.

-- Recycled paper: Nearly all paper items are being replaced with 100% recycled paper products including posters, toilet paper and more.

-- Partnerships for Organic Merchandise: Virgin Mobile USA and I.M.P. have partnered with EDUN LIVE, the sister brand of Edun Apparel founded by Ali Hewson and Bono, to provide 100% organic t-shirts for the official Virgin Mobile Festival merchandise. In addition, EDUN LIVE has donated 300 organic t-shirts to the Green Angels staff and hosted a contest on www.edun-live.com in search of a limited edition Green T-Shirt design to be printed and sold onsite. Ten percent of proceeds from the Green T-Shirt will go to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

-- Clean energy: Where possible, clean energy such as biodiesel and solar power are being used. All on-site power, generators and light towers will run on B99 biodiesel, which is 99% biodiesel, 1% diesel.

-- Green power for plug-ins: Recharging stations for mobile phones and other devices will be run on pedal-powered bicycles courtesy of Kyocera Wireless.

-- Carbon-offsetting: Where clean energy cannot be supported (production, flights, etc), Virgin Mobile Festival will seek to offset its carbon footprint by purchasing green tags through Bonneville Environmental Foundation and donating clean energy (solar, wind power, etc.) to the local Baltimore community.

-- Eco-friendly materials: Virgin Mobile Festival props and buildings will be constructed from sustainable materials wherever possible, including bamboo, FSC-certified lumber, organic cotton, and recycled materials. Nearly all materials will be reused, recycled, or donated to the local community. In addition, bamboo furniture for chilling out in the REFRESH dome is being repurposed from last year's Festival.

-- Education: A number of unique art installations offering interactive eco-educational experiences will also be featured in the Green Spot, where people will be able to hop on the Bike Blender to make a pedal-powered acai fruit smoothie, ride the Light Bike to understand the power consumption of a CFL versus an incandescent bulb, and test out the Phantom Power Meter.

"Reducing our carbon footprint is a crucial mission for Virgin Mobile USA and its employees, and we're conscious of that mission during every step of our festival planning as well," said Jill Okawa, Manager Pro-Social Initiatives for Virgin Mobile USA. "The Festival provides us with a rich opportunity to experiment with and learn from various practices, as well as educate the public, and we're committed to Virgin Mobile Festival being both experientially and environmentally friendly."

"As an environmentally conscious company, we are delighted to be a part of this festival and to work with other like-minded companies to help educate consumers," said Keith Dahl, National Marketing Manager for Toyota. "Additionally, we're able to reward concert-goers who are working to minimize their carbon footprint by giving them a chance to earn VIP upgrades and other festival prizes."

Tickets for Virgin Mobile Festival are on sale through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com or 1-800-551-SEAT). More information on the Festival and other Green initiatives being implemented can be found at www.virginmobilefestival.com.

About Virgin Mobile USA

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE:VM) , through its operating company Virgin Mobile USA, L.P., offers millions of customers control, flexibility and choice through monthly Plans Without Annual Contracts, with national coverage powered by the Sprint PCS network. Virgin Mobile USA's full slate of smart, stylish and affordable handsets, including the Wild Card, Slash and Flare, are available at approximately 40,000 top retailers nationwide and online at www.virginmobileusa.com, with Top-Up cards available at more than 140,000 locations. Virgin Mobile USA is known for its award-winning customer service with and its customers report a 90% satisfaction rate.

Virgin Mobile USA contributes a portion of profits from downloadable content to The RE*Generation, its pro-social initiative to help homeless youth; and allows customers to earn free minutes in exchange for viewing advertising content online through the innovative Sugar Mama program.

About I.M.P.

Formed in 1980, I.M.P. is a Bethesda, Md.-based concert promoter and event production company. In addition to launching Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile in the U.S., the principals at I.M.P. own Washington D.C.'s legendary 9:30 Club, renowned as the premier place to see and hear cutting-edge live music of all varieties. I.M.P. also programs and operates Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. Over the last 28 years, I.M.P. and the 9:30 Club have put on nearly 10,000 events, hosting millions of music fans.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 13 manufacturing plants. In addition, new plants are under construction in Ontario, Canada and Mississippi. There are more than 1,700 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.9 million vehicles in 2007. Toyota directly employs over 43,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $21 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services, and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods, and services from North American suppliers totals more than $30 billion. According to 2005 Center for Automotive Research study, Toyota, along with its dealers and suppliers, has generated nearly 400,000 U.S. jobs, including jobs created through spending by direct, dealer and suppliers employees. For more information, about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com

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PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Virgin Mobile USA

CONTACT: Corinne Nosal of Virgin Mobile USA, +1-908-607-4235,
Corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com; or Audrey Fix Schaefer of Schaefer + Co.
for I.M.P., +1-240-876-1588, Audrey@schaefer.com; or Cindy Coppola of Ruder
Finn for Virgin Mobile USA, +1-310-882-4019, coppolac@ruderfinn.com

Web site: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/
http://www.virginmobilefestival.com/
http://www.virginmobilefestival.com/toyotacarpool
http://events.pickuppal.com/Virgin-Mobile-Festival-Baltimore
http://www.edun-live.com/
http://www.toyota.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment