Project Porchlight Blog

One change doesn’t sound so small when 700,000 people do it.

That’s exactly what’s happened so far in Alberta this year. 700,000 households have accepted one of our CFLs, making one change that’s added up to something really big.

On November 29th, we marked the occasion with the 700,000 Bulb Celebration in Edmonton. Hundreds of people piled into the TransAlta Arts Barns to listen to speeches and live entertainment, and enjoy treats from Tim Hortons.

John Mulvihill, Associate Executive Director for One Change (pictured here with two Project Porchlight staff), kicked off the speeches by welcoming representatives from our Edmonton sponsors: Bev Yee, Assistant Deputy Minister of Environmental Assurance for the Government of Alberta; Lois Wozney, Advisor of Community Energy Efficiency Programs at EnCana Corporation; and Ben Henderson, City of Edmonton Councillor.

After the formal presentation, Edmonton residents got ready to kick back and relax, with a hot chocolate in one hand and a CFL in the other. As Edmonton’s award-winning Captain Tractor played hits from their folk-rock repertoire, people took part in Q+As and entered their names for some awesome door prizes, including Edmonton Oilers tickets. The kids let their creativity and competitive spirits shine in our colouring contest, which turned out to be a huge hit. The grand prize winner took home a beautiful set of books, as well as… you guessed it—a CFL!

None of this would have been possible without the thousands of volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of open-minded residents, in Edmonton. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our message, and to take it to heart. Together, we’re making a difference!