NorthJersey.com (Woodcliff Lake, NJ): Project Porchlight to participate in National Night Out

Posted July 22, 2010 by OneChange

Woodcliff Lake residents may be getting free light bulbs from the state through Project Porchlight, but not at their doorstep like the non-profit usually delivers them.

Jill Zajac of the program came to the July 12 council meeting to explain the mission of the group and ask for the governing body's backing.

Through staff members and volunteers, Project Porchlight hands out compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to households to promote energy efficiency. The bulbs, which are 14 watts but equivalent to 60, use less electricity than traditional light bulbs and last from five to seven years. The bulbs can be recycled at Home Depot, Lowe's or IKEA according to Zajac. She said the bulbs are basic and are not compatible with a three-way switch. Those bulbs and a 33 watt version are available for purchase in retail stores.

"We go community to community," she said. "Usually I work with the Environmental Commission and through them we try to generate some volunteers."

Those volunteers are trained and receive a map of about 50 houses, usually in their own neighborhood. Then they ring door bells and hand out the CFL bulbs provided by the state, giving residents information about the bulbs and the program. If residents aren't home, Project Porchlight members hang the bulb, which is in a box, on the door knob. The box contains information and instructions.

"It's a way for community members to educate the residents and to basically get the lovely free light bulbs from the state out into the community," Zajac said.

But some government officials had reservations about home delivery. "As far as going door to door, I don't know," Mayor Joseph LaPaglia said. "It's not a door to door town."

Council President Paul Camella was worried about leaving the bulbs on residents' door knobs, particularly in the summer when many leave the area for days at a time.

"I didn't want to leave things hanging on door knobs when people are away on vacation," he said. "It's kind of like a sign that says, 'I'm not home for a week.'" He also believes it would be difficult to get volunteers during the summer months.

"At this point they're not going door to door," Camella said, but he added that Zajac will have a table set up during National Night Out Aug. 3, which is for residents of Woodcliff Lake, Montvale and Park Ridge. Camella estimated that 3,000 people would be at the event and it would be a good way to get the message and CFL bulbs out to the community.

In addition to National Night Out, Zajac will be meeting with borough organizations to give presentations or make literature available. Camella mentioned the Senior Association, some of the service organizations like UNICO and the Woodcliff Lake Foundation as examples.

The one issue is Project Porchlight's funding, which comes from New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program and the Board of Public Utilities. Zajac said the initiative has only been renewed until September, but it could continue through December because it's "been extended many times before."

Camella said home delivery isn't out of the question in the future. "If they get some additional funding and they go into another few months, six months, a year, whatever comes out, we may be able to do something in the fall and get some volunteers to be able to do that," he said. "There's just not enough time between now and Aug. 30 to do anything substantial as far as going door to door."

If officials work with Project Porchlight, they could receive 10 points as part of Sustainable Jersey, a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to "go green." Municipalities in Sustainable Jersey can accumulate points to become eligible for state grants. Currently the borough is not enrolled in Sustainable Jersey.