Project Porchlight Blog

The employees of the Pathmark store in Irvington, New Jersey, are generally knowledgeable about the products sold in the store. But when Project Porchlight Compliance Officer Karima Houston recently spent a day educating Pathmark customers about energy efficiency, she discovered that some of the store’s employees could learn more about the energy savings offered by the compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that are sold at the store

. Karima spent the day at the Pathmark in Irvington on December 31, distributing CFL bulbs at no charge to customers and educating them about how energy-efficient CFL bulbs help protect the environment. “Some of the employees of Pathmark didn’t know too much about the CFL bulbs,” says Karima. “They just thought they were bulbs that might save people money. They didn’t know that by conserving energy, these bulbs help protect the environment. I was able to educate them about energy efficiency and how important that is, and they, in turn, will be able to educate future customers coming into the store.” A total of 201 CFL bulbs were distributed that day, 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 the community-based social marketing leaders 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). “I really made an impact that day,” says Karima. “A lot of the shoppers who came into Pathmark were very interested in Project Porchlight’s campaign and the different programs that we have for them. They were also very excited about receiving the energy-efficient CFL bulbs.” When it comes to protecting our environment, simple actions matter. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb can make a difference. Project Porchlight empowers people to believe that simple actions matter and to make smart choices that protect the environment. “A lot of the people I talked to didn’t realize how easy it is to make changes in their homes and become more energy efficient,” says Karima. One employee, in particular, was extremely excited to learn about all the benefits offered by CFL bulbs. “She said she was actually going to change out her whole household with CFL bulbs because she was interested in saving lots of money and in saving the environment,” says Karima. “I know she’s going to be talking about CFL bulbs with her customers from now on.”