Gidley uses pedal power to go green on Monday night

Knights fullback Kurt Gidley is pedalling a powerful message to fans going to this Monday night's game. (August 4).

The Knights v Eels clash is being themed as a 'Green Game', and Gidley, the Knight's own 'energy ambassador', is keen to see the family hill light up with a range of energy efficient and environmentally sound activities.

Gidley proved his green credentials by powering up the Coal & Allied energy bike last night, pedalling hard to power up light globes, boil water in a kettle and even run a hairdryer.

"The Coal & Allied energy bike will be one of the activities on the Family Hill prior to kick off on Monday night," Kurt said.

"You can try out your fitness on the bike and see just how much harder you need to pedal to light a regular light bulb, compared to the energy efficient ones which take much less effort to turn on.

"We use this exercise bike at lots of our Community Alliance activities. The bike plugs into electrical appliances and demonstrates how much energy - or in this case, pedal power - it takes to turn them on.

"It really shows you how we can all make a difference to the environment if we do something as simple as swapping our light bulbs for energy efficient ones.

"As the team's Energy Ambassador, my message to fans is to change your light globes to energy efficient globes."

The Family Hill will feature a range of energy efficiency games and activities before the game, including the Coal & Allied energy bike, tips from the players on how to protect the planet, free toy miners hats for kids, and an activity trail to Kids Castle along which kids can collect environmental stickers to put on their hats.

At half time, footy fans who have brought with them their 'green' handheld megaphones will be in the running to win the ultimate football prize - an enclosed private box for up to 10 people to watch a Knights home game.

Fans can win simply by holding up the environment message printed on the megaphones at Monday night's match against the Eels, available at the ground on match day or at various shopping centres tomorrow including Jesmond, Wallsend, Charleston Square and Westfield Kotara.

Coal & Allied General Manager External Relations, Fiona Nicholls, said fans would be encouraged to try out their fitness on the energy bike, and learn about ways to save water, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and recycle.

"Children on Family Hill will be given a free Community Alliance miner's hat, and as they go to each activity they can collect stickers to put on their hats with tips on being green," Ms Nicholls said.

"There are plenty of things all of us can do as part of our daily activities to be more environmentally aware.

"At Coal & Allied we saved 610 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions last year just by turning lights off when they were not being used.

"We also saved more than 1,752 tonnes of carbon dioxide last year by installing more efficient engines in the trucks that we use at our mines, and we are always working to reduce water use and to recycle fresh water."

Activities on Family Hill start at 5.30pm ahead of the Knights v Eels game which kicks off at 7pm.

Ends

Media contacts:
Stephen Mount (Newcastle Knights) (02) 4941 8200 / 0412 291 911
Alison Smith (Coal & Allied) 0438 787 038

Gidley uses pedal power to go green on Monday night [PDF: 53 KB]