Press Releases
Calgary Tower turns 'green' as volunteers gather in Calgary this Sunday to celebrate Project Porchlight simple actions matter
The lights on the Calgary Tower are turning green - 'literally' this Sunday - not in celebration of St. Patrick's Day next week - but to celebrate the successful conclusion of Alberta's Project Porchlight campaign. The two-year campaign involved delivering 800,000 energy-efficient 13-watt compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to Albertans by more than 4,000 volunteers.
The green coloured CFL light bulbs were donated to the Calgary Tower by
One Change, a not for profit organization that created the award-winning Project Porchlight campaign. The CFL light bulbs will save the Calgary Tower $12,000 in energy savings and cut 104 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the air.
Over two thousand volunteers and supporters from all over Alberta have been invited to see the 'green' Calgary Tower and to be honoured at a volunteer celebration event hosted by One Change. Volunteers will be thanked by Hon. Rob Renner, Alberta's Minister of the Environment, Deputy Mayor Brian Pincott and EnCana's Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations Gerry Protti, sponsors of Project Porchlight. They will be entertained by Grammy-nominated pop-country recording artists Emerson Drive. The celebration will be emceed by actress and television star Meg Ruffman.
For the past two years, 4,000+ volunteers from community groups such as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Alberta Junior Forest Wardens, Rotary, Kinsmen, church groups and hundreds of individuals traveled door to door, school to school, church to church and community to community handing out the 800,000 free CFL light bulbs and helping Alberta residents reduce their ecological footprint.
One Change created the Project Porchlight campaign to help raise awareness about the simple steps people can take to benefit themselves and the
environment, such as changing a light bulb. "Our research indicates people
actually did replace their light bulbs with the free CFL bulbs," said One
Change Executive Director Stuart Hickox. "That means, in one year, Albertans
saved 381,640 MWhs in electricity which is equivalent to energy consumed by
approximately 50,000 Alberta homes in a year or close to $29 million in energy
costs saved."
"All Albertans have a role to play when it comes to the environment," said Rob Renner, Alberta Minister of Environment. "Project Porchlight is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when government, corporations,
communities and individuals come together and commit to one simple act for the environment."
Hickox, who has a background in international and social justice marketing projects and journalism, spent two years developing the Project Porchlight program. One Change launched the Alberta campaign in Medicine Hat in 2007 after first testing it by delivering 225,000 CFL light bulbs door to door in Ottawa. One Change has received enthusiastic financial and in kind support from the Government of Alberta and EnCana Corporation. The City of Calgary and the City of Edmonton were instrumental in promoting the campaign and enabling door to door deliveries in each city.
"As part of EnCana's commitment to energy efficiency in our communities, we have been pleased to partner with One Change in bringing Project Porchlight to life in Alberta. The impacts of this campaign in terms of reduction in energy use, energy costs and CO2 emissions align very closely with the energy efficiency efforts at EnCana," said EnCana Corporation's Gerry Protti, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations.
"The people of Alberta have embraced Project Porchlight with open arms-people here really understand we're all responsible for energy use and making simple actions matter," said Hickox.
To date, Project Porchlight campaigns are underway in Ontario, Yukon,
Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Vermont and New Jersey. There are now over 10,000 registered volunteers from over 2,000 groups in 500 communities who have delivered 2 million light bulbs!
One Change is the recipient of the 2006 Energy Star Market Transformation
Award, and the 2007 Canadian Geographic Canadian Environment Award. It
recently signed a continent wide partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme for North American outreach.
The idea for Project Porchlight and One Change is to empower people to
believe that simple actions matter and to make smart choices that protect the
environment. "It is all about showing people that individuals really can save our planet - changing a light bulb is just the start," says Hickox. "Once people make one change in their lives - like changing light bulbs, they start noticing other things they can do - from turning off taps and installing toilet tank bags to conserve water, recycling and using public transit," he said.
Hickox is now developing a water conservation initiative and hopes the
4,000 Alberta volunteers will again lend a hand with the next 'one change'.
Plans will be announced soon. Calgary residents are also encouraged to take
more steps to reduce their footprint by visiting The City of Calgary's website at Calgary.ca/footprint. For current news on One Change initiatives and events, or to volunteer, visit onechange.org.
For further information: and volunteer celebration access: Ian Samuels,
Volunteer and outreach Coordinator, One Change, Mobile: (403) 771-4694,
iansamuels@onechange.org; Manon Crôteau, Communications and Outreach Manager, One Change, 1-866-585-6359, ext. 218, Mobile (613) 263-0403,
manon@onechange.org
View photos from One Change's Simple Actions Matter in Alberta Celebration Event.
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