Project Porchlight aims to deliver 500,000 bulbs

Replacing just one old-style incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light saves up to $50 over five years –  a potential saving of $25 million from 500,000 of the energy efficient lights that are being distributed free to Albertans by Project Porchlight.

That’s the essence of the spiel Randi Hogg delivered as she recruited volunteers from the crowd that gathered at the Jasper Activity Centre last Sunday for the volunteer celebration banquet.

“It takes about an hour to distribute 50 bulbs,” she said, offering a sign-up sheet and a free bulb to everyone who stopped by her table in the foyer.

Porchlight is sponsored by the Alberta Government and EnCana Corp. Partners include Shaw Cable, Climate Change Centre, the Kiwanis Club, and the 4-H Foundation.

“This is about more than changing light bulbs,” said Stuart Hickox, executive director of One Change, the organization that runs Project Porchlight.

“Everybody can change a light bulb, and once people realize that simple actions like this really do matter, they want to do more.”