Minister Renner and Mayor Mandel appeal to residents to help deliver free compact fluorescent light bulbs as part of Project Porchlight

Edmonton, Thursday, October 16, 2008: Simple actions matter - that’s the message delivered by Project Porchlight Alberta, a campaign that mobilizes people to make smart energy and environmental choices. The Edmonton and Calgary portion of the campaign was officially launched today at the Royal Alberta Museum by Environment Minister Rob Renner and Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Minister Renner and Mayor Mandel called on all residents of Edmonton and Calgary to help deliver 300,000 free light bulbs door to door. This follows the successful first phase of the Porchlight campaign, during which 500,000 energy-efficient light bulbs were distributed by Albertans across the rest of the province.

Project Porchlight is run by One Change, a not-for-profit organization that empowers people to believe that simple actions matter and to make smart energy choices in their daily lives. “This is about more than light bulbs,” said One Change executive director, Stuart Hickox, “Project Porchlight converts awareness to action at the community level. The light bulb is just the start.” Each bulb that is switched from an incandescent bulb translates to a savings of about $50 in electricity costs over the lifetime of the bulb.

Project Porchlight Alberta is sponsored by the Government of Alberta, EnCana Corporation, the City of Edmonton and the City of Calgary.

“EnCana Corporation is proud to be a part of a campaign with measurable results for Alberta,” said Sheila McIntosh, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications for EnCana Corporation. “So far, Project Porchlight, with the support of more than 2000 community volunteers, has distributed 500,000 bulbs to 250 Alberta communities resulting in 235,000 megawatt hours in energy savings and $17.6 million in savings for Alberta energy consumers.”

“The City of Edmonton is proud to support Project Porchlight,” says Mayor Stephen Mandel. “We’ve become known as a world leader in a number of environmental initiatives such as recycling, waste collection, composting and wastewater treatment, just to name a few. Our involvement in this campaign furthers Edmontonians’ commitment and demonstrates we’re serious about reducing our own municipal footprint . Edmontonians are talking about climate change and this is one more way we’re doing something about it.”

Information about proper disposal of CFL bulbs can be found on the City of Edmonton web site. To volunteer or for more information, visit projectporchlight.com or call 780-497-0503.

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For more information, please contact:
Frances Kierstead
Communications Coordinator, One Change
403-645-4558, frances@onechange.org

Scott Payne
Alberta Campaign Manager , One Change
403-645-4694, scott@onechange.org