Project Porchlight Blog

The morning of November 8 dawned rainy and cold, but the weather did not deter the volunteers who turned out for Project Porchlight’s Livingston Distribution Blitz in Livingston, New Jersey. In fact, more volunteers than anticipated showed up to help Project Porchlight distribute free energy-saving compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs throughout the township: We were expecting 85 people, but 135 volunteers participated, distributing a total of 2,446 energy-efficient light bulbs.

The energy savings resulting from the Livingston distribution are the equivalent of removing more than 139 cars from the road and approximately 807 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Way to go, Livingston!

“The distribution was both a very symbolic and public event, and it was amazingly successful,” says Councilwoman Arlene Johnson, who is the council’s liaison for the township’s “Living Green in Livingston” Initiative. “We reached more than a quarter of the community, so we knew we were making an impact.”

The Livingston CFL bulb distribution was part of Project Porchlight New Jersey’s campaign to distribute 300,000 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).

Chris Bickel, a father of two who supervises social studies for the Livingston Board of Education, helped organize the blitz. “It was excellent,” he says. “We had an enormous turnout of people, and what I was most impressed by was the diversity of the people who came out. We had a very diverse turnout.”

Like many other Livingston residents, Chris is thrilled with the success of the distribution. “The amount of energy reduction we achieved is phenomenal,” he says. “That’s a lot of greenhouse gases that we’re keeping out. Project Porchlight is running a great campaign.”

What Chris admires most about Project Porchlight is the way we empower ordinary folks, helping them realize that even something as simple as changing a light bulb can make a huge impact on the environment. “We need to keep multiplying that power of one,” he says.

“Here in Northern New Jersey, we’re so densely populated that it’s extremely difficult for people to feel like anything that they do really matters, just because of the enormity of the population,” says Chris.

“Project Porchlight gives people that power again, that ability to say, ‘Wow, I can make a difference! And as a group, we can make a larger difference!’ Project Porchlight gives people a tangible way to make a difference immediately.”