Michael Martorelli never really planned to become an Environmental Commissioner in his hometown of East Hanover, New Jersey. It just sort of happened.

Michael works in the engineering department of Seton Hall University [1] in South Orange, New Jersey. “I do a lot of energy conservation at work, and I was working primarily in the science and technology building, so I dealt with a lot of chemicals and hazardous materials,” he explains. “That got me interested in environmental issues.”

Two years ago, as part of his licensing requirements, he attended a professional course on environmental health and safety issues. Since then, Michael has put his knowledge to good use. At home, his wife and three daughters are all environmentally aware. “Our house is done,” he says. “We’re as energy efficient as we can go.”

In January 2007, East Hanover Mayor Joseph Pannullo invited Michael to serve on the township’s environmental commission. The commission sponsors two river cleanups each year of the Whippany River. Its members also empty out dead-end streets that fill with garbage, and they help maintain the Patriot’s Path hiking trail. “Everything I do for the Environmental Commission we do as a family activity,” says Michael.

Michael has also found time to work with Project Porchlight on several compact fluorescent light (CFL) distributions. On December 14, an East Hanover Distribution resulted in the distribution of a total of 1,600 energy-saving CFL bulbs. And on March 23, he organized a “mini-event” at the local Senior Center. “Project Porchlight donated 300 bulbs for that,” he says, “and everybody walked out smiling.”

Two days later at Seton Hall, Michael and 65 volunteers helped Project Porchlight distribute 1,280 energy-efficient CFL bulbs in the campus residence halls.

Those events are 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 [2], and the campaign is made possible thanks to funding by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) [3] and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) [4].

The East Hanover Environmental Commission is currently ranked nationally as the 5th highest nonprofit organization for the number of Change the World, Start With ENERGY STAR [5] pledges it has collected. And he’s not done yet: Michael is hoping to set up additional events in the summer and the fall. “In East Hanover, we’ve reached 50% of the homes, and that’s more than 2 million pounds of greenhouse gasses,” he says proudly. “This is all very important. People don’t like change—nobody does. But we’ve got to save the environment for our kids and our grandkids.”