When the batteries on their children’s Power Wheels [1] run out, most parents plop the batteries into a charger and plug the charger into the wall. Not Lacey, WA’s Randy Robinson (pictured here). When his son Zachary’s toy runs out of juice, Randy just hops on his bike.
The environmentally-conscious father and handyman made the effort to build a generator using the motor and frame of a broken treadmill. “I took a mountain bike and secured it to the frame,” says Randy. “You can ride the bike to produce enough power to recharge the 12 volt battery.”
That kind of initiative isn’t at all surprising to anyone who knows Randy. He’s always looking for ways to go green, give back, and improve the world around him. He generously lends his building skills to volunteer organizations like Habitat for Humanity [2], and local Catholic community services that build handicap ramps and homes for low income residents of Thurston County. He also maintains the vehicles of family and friends to lower their carbon dioxide emissions.
Given Randy’s concern for people and the environment, it makes perfect sense that he was keen to get involved with Project Porchlight when he learned we were coming to town. He heard about our campaign on one of his frequent trips to Lowe’s [3] and wasted no time signing up to volunteer. Randy spent the weekend of October 24 and 25 helping out at Project Porchlight partner Puget Sound Energy [4]’s Rock the Bulb campaign [5] event in Lacey. And on October 27, he joined Project Porchlight for the Olympia Bulb Blitz, going door-to-door to deliver free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs throughout the neighborhood.
Randy believes that Project Porchlight plays an important role in saving energy and protecting the environment—something he feels we all have to focus on. “If you look at the earth today, you can see the damage to the ozone layer and the other natural resources that we have used,” says Randy. “We need to take care of the planet. This is the only home we have!”
With Project Porchlight behind him, Randy plans to continue helping others go green and volunteering as much as possible. “(Volunteering can) show others that when you do help, it does make a difference,” he says. “In this case, a huge difference.”
Randy’s son is only 21-months-old. But Randy hopes that one day his offspring will share his appreciation for the environment, and he’s doing everything he can today to set a good example for Zach to follow. That’s just the kind of father he is.
Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy [6] serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy [7], 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 [8].