Project Porchlight Blog

Jenine Tankoos, an Environmental Commissioner in Manalapan, New Jersey, first become interested in the environment as a student at Barnard College. After graduation, she held several positions at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before working for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), where she educated residents about the ways that their behaviors affect the water supply.

Throughout this period in Jenine’s life, her hobby was photography—nature photography as well as portraits. Nearly a decade ago, Jenine moved with her husband to Texas, and at that point, she changed careers to work as a self-employed portrait photographer.

“I always say I flip-flop,” says Jenine. “I used to work with the EPA, and photography was my hobby. When we moved, I turned my hobby into my career, and my career into my hobby. So they’re both my passions, really.”
Now Jenine has acquired a couple of additional passions—she and her husband have two children, ages four and seven. The family has lived in Manalapan for the past three years.

Soon after their arrival, Jenine met a member of the township’s Environmental Commission, and it wasn’t long before she was invited to participate as a Commissioner.

Jenine initially came across Project Porchlight’s campaign to educate state residents about the energy savings offered by compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs last year at an Association of New jersey Environmental Commissions event. She was thrilled to connect with Project Porchlight.

“I love this Project Porchlight campaign,” says Jenine. “I think that having a grassroots effort to approach people on a one-to-one basis is a great way of helping people learn how their small actions can help the environment. I used to do this in some of my previous work. When I used to work for DEP, I also educated residents, and I found that education one-on-one rather than advertising or Internet or TV is a very good way to help people to actually change their behaviors in a way that’s better for the environment.”

Jenine was instrumental in setting up the Manalapan Bulb Blitz on October 25. Seventy volunteers distributed a total of 1,000 CFL bulbs, 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 One Change, and the campaign is made possible thanks to funding by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program (NJCEP).

On the day of the Manalapan Blitz, the Manalapan Environmental Commission (MEC) shot the first episode of a new television program, “Green Matters in Manalapan,” with Jenine as the host. “The program, which can be seen on a local cable channel, is about why people should use CFL bulbs and Project Porchlight,” says Jenine. “It’s really exciting.”

Jenine is also excited about other upcoming MEC projects, including a demonstration rain garden that will show residents ways they can help prevent water pollution. “Also, the Commission hopes to solicit lots of volunteers from the community who are interested in conservation to be a part of a sort of enviro corps and work with us on a variety of environmental projects, both big and small,” she says.

When it comes to protecting our environment, simple actions matter. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb is important. “Now that being green has become so popular, I am even more drawn to do volunteer work for the environment because people are now very interested in listening and learning and changing their behaviors,” says Jenine. “It used to be a great challenge to reach people, and now that people are so interested, it’s very exciting to work in the field of environmental protection.”

“More and more, I find myself being drawn away from my photography to do my volunteer work,” she adds. “Everyone is interested in going green!”