Project Porchlight Blog

With a thrilling last-minute goal by Jamie Langenbrunner, the New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators on November 25 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. That wasn't the only good news for New Jersey fans that evening: The event featured another way to win with Project Porchlight, which was set up at the arena to educate fans about energy efficiency and the energy savings offered by compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.

A total of 3,178 CFL bulbs were distributed, part of Project Porchlight New Jersey’s campaign to distribute 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).

The collaboration between Project Porchlight and the New Jersey Devils was a huge success. “This was planned as our largest ever single-day event,” says Project Porchlight Regional Manager Jason Shapiro. “We were able to reach a crowd of more than 10,000 people and inspire them with our message of energy consciousness and energy saving. What was really great was that we had commercial time during intermission between periods of the hockey game. A Project Porchlight commercial was played on the big screen in the middle of the stadium for everyone to see, and also our banners were displayed electronically around the stadium at various times.”

The energy savings that result from the use of 3,178 CFL bulbs are tremendous, representing a total savings of over $95,000. And that’s just the beginning: State residents switching to that number of CFL bulbs result in a reduction of 527 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. That’s equivalent to taking more than 90 cars off New Jersey roads for a year!

More than 20 members of Project Porchlight’s staff, including Campaign Manager Sheila Foreman, were on hand at the Prudential Center to distribute CFL bulbs to fans as they left the building. Also present for the event was One Change Founder and President Stuart Hickox and Director of Communications Gail Logan. Incidentally, both Stuart and Gail hail from Ottawa, but how could they be disappointed by the Senators’ defeat on such a triumphant night?

“I cheered for my home team, but the Devils are my home team in New Jersey!” says Gail. “Either way, it was good hockey and a fantastic night for Project Porchlight and One Change. Hockey fans learned about energy conservation and the work of the BPU and New Jersey's Clean Energy Program.”

Project Porchlight empowers people to believe that simple actions matter and to make smart choices that protect the environment. “Many people at the game had never heard of Project Porchlight or understood the benefits of installing CFL bulbs in their homes,” says Gail. “By putting a bulb in their hands, we empowered them to take action. It was their first step towards taking other simple actions that will save them money, save energy and ultimately, protect our environment.”