Project Porchlight Blog

Elizabeth DeLorenzo (pictured here) discovered Project Porchlight when she strolled into the Bellingham Farmers Market on August 29. The passionate environmentalist was out shopping with her daughter, and was surprised and delighted to see our booth. When she realized that it was an environmental initiative and that partner Puget Sound Energy was involved, she came right up to our team and asked, “What can I do?”

A lot, as it happens! Elizabeth signed up to volunteer at every Project Porchlight event in Bellingham, WA, including the Whatcom Falls bulb blitz that took place the following day, and PSE’s Rock the Bulb campaign events at Lowe’s on September 19 and 20.

“I’m a believer,” says Elizabeth. “I believe that delivering compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs will make a difference…. If everybody is cautious about waste, then eventually—instead of going downhill—(the environmental crisis) will improve. And it saves you money, too, in the long run if you’re not wasting energy.”

Elizabeth has always loved giving back to her community, and is enjoying having more time to volunteer now that she’s retired. In her younger days she worked in many fields, including construction, hostessing, and even modeling. She used to put her best foot forward as a model for Frederick & Nelson Department Store (now Nordstrom) under the name Elizabeth Lake. These days, though, she’s more interested in putting her feet to work going door-to-door and ensuring that as many Bellingham residents as possible switch over to CFL bulbs.

“I hope that Project Porchlight will help people make small changes in their lifestyles that will (protect the environment),” she says. “One of (former Vice President) Al Gore’s statements is, ‘increase your handprint, decrease your footprint.’ Even if you’re just one handprint on the world, it still makes a difference. Simple actions do matter!”

With that in mind, Elizabeth plans to continue volunteering with Project Porchlight and promoting environmental awareness throughout her community. As a former model, she graced the pages of many publications. Now, as a role model, she’ll be gracing the streets of Bellingham—CFL bulb in hand, cheerful disposition at the ready.

Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible. For more information, visit www.PSE.com.