Project Porchlight Blog

The Roseland Rotary Craft Show & Country Fair, an annual event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Roseland, New Jersey, took place on June 6 on the borough’s municipal lawn. Local performers shared the stage while area artists and crafters displayed their works, and folks sipped homemade lemonade from a mom ‘n’ pop lemonade stand.

Project Porchlight was also on hand to educate people on the energy savings offered by compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. A total of 200 CFL bulbs were handed out, part of Project Porchlight New Jersey’s campaign to distribute one million free 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).

“There were a lot of other activities going on in Roseland the same day as the event. There was a softball game, and there was a soccer game,” says Project Porchlight field representative Tim Tuite (pictured left). “A lot of parents were coming afterwards with their kids and talking with us about environmentalism. Everybody was grateful. They loved what we were doing, and they knew why we were there. They understood our message.”

When it comes to protecting our environment, simple actions matter. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb can have a huge impact. For Tim, communicating this message to children at the fair was especially gratifying. “It’s good to get to the children. If we get to this generation, and they start taking these small, simple actions that are so important, then they’ll grow up to be more environmentally conscious,” he says. “Maybe the next generation won’t make the mistakes of previous generations.”