Project Porchlight Blog

Girl Scout Troop #1126 of South Orange, New Jersey, sold its Girl Scout cookies as usual this year. But when the time came to deliver the cookies, they did something a little bit different. Along with the cookies, their neighbors received free energy-saving compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, courtesy of Project Porchlight.

“The girls distributed the bulbs along with their cookie distribution,” says Troop leader Sandra Sandoli, a Maplewood, New Jersey, mom whose fifth-grade daughter is a member of the troop. “They had more bulbs than cookies, though, so then they continued throughout their neighborhoods.”

The 25 members of Troop #1126 distributed a total of 200 CFL bulbs, part of Project Porchlight New Jersey’s campaign to distribute one million free energy-efficient light bulbs to residents across the state. Project Porchlight is an initiative of One Change, and the campaign is made possible thanks to funding by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program (NJCEP).

Before the two-week distribution, the troop enjoyed a training session with Project Porchlight’s Quincey Xavier. “Quincey was really great with the girls,” says Sandra. “He had their attention, and he was funny and energetic. He taught the girls all about the CFL bulbs, and after that they knew exactly what they had to do.”

Volunteering for Project Porchlight was a positive experience for Troop #1126. “They learned how their own efforts could make a difference for the environment,” says Sandra. “The experience with Project Porchlight allowed them to be a part of a larger project. They learned, and they learned a lot about educating others.”

When it comes to protecting our environment, simple actions really do matter. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb is important. “Not everybody understands what changing one bulb, if not more, can do for the environment,” says Sandra. “For my girls, their simple action of handing out a bulb multiplies when they educate people, and then those people can educate other people.

“Project Porchlight is a great project. To get everybody involved and educated is really important,” adds Sandra. “People sometimes think they can’t contribute or make a difference when they actually can.”

Not long after Troop #1126 finished their bulb distribution, they received a note from Quincey, praising their achievement. He wrote:

“I wanted to extend a very big THANK YOU to your Girl Scout Troop 1126, as they did a lot of great work in South Orange and Maplewood areas, removing over 66 tons of CO2 greenhouse gases, or the equivalent of 114 cars from the road for a period of one year!”

Sandra says that the girls were thrilled. “They were like, ‘Wow! We did that!’ They were pretty amazed that their simple action really made such a big difference.”