Barbara Vanderbeck (pictured here), a resident of Norwood, New Jersey, currently serves on Norwood’s Environmental Commission [1] as well as its fledging Green Team, which is working to attain Sustainable Jersey [2] certification for the borough.

She also devotes much of her time to educating her neighbors at Foxhill Manor, a condominium community for active seniors in Norwood. On April 23, Barbara arranged a visit to Foxhill Manor by Project Porchlight Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator Jill Zajac. In a presentation that was enjoyed by all, Jill educated the condo’s residents about the energy savings offered by compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs as well as the energy efficiency programs that are available through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program [3] (NJCEP).

“I really wanted to do a little Earth Day here at Foxhill Manor,” says Barbara, who also arranged for residents to bring unwanted electronic equipment to the presentation. “People brought things on wheeled grocery carts. They brought a giant old fax machine and electronic typewriters. If we hadn’t arranged to have those recycled, they would have ended up in a landfill.”

Before taking all that electronic equipment to be recycled, she took a photo of it and created a poster to display at Foxhill Manor. “I also put down how many CFL bulbs were distributed by Project Porchlight,” she says. “On the bottom, I wrote ‘Simple Actions Matter’ in big green letters. I borrowed that slogan from Project Porchlight, and everybody loved that.”

Growing up in nearby Closter, Barbara did not always pay attention to environmental issues. But her environmental awareness came quickly during the early ‘90s, when worked as a facility manager for Panasonic in Secaucus, New Jersey. She took over the plant’s recycling program at a time when approximately 2,000 people were employed there.

“We recycled all the electronic equipment, which was massive, and we did paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal,” says Barbara. She even recycled the cafeteria’s inedible food scraps for a local pig farmer! “It was a win-win situation. The farmer would come and pick it all up. There were things like tomato tops and lettuce that we couldn’t use, and that was perfect for his needs.”

Her “ah-ha moment” came a bit later, while Barbara attended a professional recycling program at Rutgers University [4] in the early 2000s. “I remember being in Burlington County on top of the dump,” she recalls. “Our class was picking things out from the waste that could have been recycled, and that’s when I really began to understand how much could be recycled and how much could be done one step at a time.”

Barbara no longer works at Panasonic, which means that now she has plenty of time to volunteer for environmental causes. She discovered Project Porchlight several months ago and immediately began working to bring our campaign to Norwood. Following Jill’s presentation at Foxhill Manor, several of the condo’s residents distributed Project Porchlight CFL bulbs at the Norwood’s first-ever “Go Green” Earth Fair on April 25. Between the two events, a total of 103 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 the community-based social marketing [5] leaders One Change [6], and the campaign is made possible thanks to funding by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) [7] and the (NJCEP) [8].

When it comes to protecting our environment, simple actions matter. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb is important. Project Porchlight empowers people to believe that simple actions matter and to make smart choices that protect the environment.

Barbara has certainly been doing her part to protect the environment in every way that she can. She regularly reminds her friends and neighbors about the importance of using CFL bulbs. Not long ago, she gave a talk on energy conservation at Foxhill Manor. To encourage attendance, she baked some brownies and a chocolate cake with white icing. “Project Porchlight is a great motivator,” she says. “It is a wonderful program, and I’m glad to help out.”