Issue 3- March 2011
Articles:
Lighten Up Tompkins Distributes Energy Saving Bags to 4,700
Youth Plan Power Summit for April 9th
Record Numbers of New Yorkers Upgrade Homes
Green Jobs Green NY Provides Reduced or No-Cost Energy Assessments
Green Building Seminar Series
Lighten Up Tompkins Distributes Energy Saving Bags to 4,700 Residents
Visit the Lighten Up Tompkins website for photos and media coverage from the October 30th Distribution Day!
On Saturday October 30th 2010, "Lighten Up Tompkins!" mobilized 300 volunteers to deliver energy efficiency educational materials, products, and coupons to 3,500 homes across Tompkins County. An additional 1,500 bags were distributed at food pantries, local schools, and other community venues for a total of 4,700 bags distributed overall. Lighten Up Tompkins was the largest door-to-door energy efficiency outreach effort in Tompkins County history, and was inspired by "Lighten Up Caroline," which delivered a CFL to every Town of Caroline home on April 19, 2008.
The bags included a free compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), coupons, a raffle entry form, and energy savings information, including upcoming workshops, the path to energy savings, guide to financing programs, and list of local BPI contractors. Residents who signed the pledge to get on the Path to Energy Savings were entered to win a raffle for over $2,000 worth of prizes. As of February 2011 over 500 people have signed the Lighten Up Tompkins Pledge. Check out the Lighten Up Tompkins website for the materials distributed, media coverage, and photos from distribution day.
"We've been hearing incredible stories." said Shawn Lindabury, who helped coordinate the effort. "An elderly resident's kitchen light had burnt out and she couldn't reach to replace it. One of our volunteers swapped in a new CFL and brought back the old bulb for recycling."
Over 300 volunteers from the community and Cornell University's "Into the Streets" day of service participated in the event.
"The students who came to our house were really wonderful," said John Sterling, a resident of Warren Road in Lansing. "We heard about the event on the radio. Our old driveway lamp burned out a few days ago and they kindly changed the bulb."
Both young and old stuffed bags in preparation for the distribution. Youth from Dryden High School's Sustainability Club and science classes and volunteers from the Retired Senior Volunteer Program pitched in to stuff bags in the weeks leading up to distribution day. Night-shift employees from Cargill International, Inc. in Lansing stuffed over 2,000 bags. Cargill was the event's major sponsor, donating $15,000 for the effort. The event was also sponsored by NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority).
The Lighten Up Tompkins initiative is part of a larger effort to help residents save energy, create local jobs, and reduce carbon emissions to help Tompkins County reach its goal of reducing carbon emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. If all 5,000 households install their CFL, $278,000 will be saved collectively as well as 3.46 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions avoided over the life of the bulb. Lighten Up Tomkins helped show residents that one simple effort, when combined collectively, will go a long way.
Aside from awareness, the program also showed homeowners how easy it was to actually have energy work completed on their homes. The personal delivery of the bags and goodies served as friendly encouragement to residents to take advantage of the numerous financing programs in the county that fund home energy upgrades.
"Changing our light bulbs is the first step on the path to energy savings," said Frongillo. "If all homes in Tompkins County were upgraded to Building Performance Institute standards, we will bring in $34.3 million in energy savings to the local economy and create over 425 jobs for four years."
As a follow up to Lighten Up Tompkins, the CCETC energy team will contact those who signed the Path to Energy Savings pledge in order to track their progress, and the success of the Lighten Up Tompkins initiative. The energy team will provide support, continual encouragement, and up-to-date information on financial programs to those who are excited about the changes they can make in their homes and in the community. Saving energy and saving money has never been so easy!
For more information on Lighten Up Tompkins visit our website or contact Shawn Lindabury, Community Energy Educator, at scl36@cornell.edu or 607-272-2292 ext. 262.
Youth Plan Power Summit for April 9th
Over 10,000 young leaders will go to Powershift 2011 April 15th-18th in Washington DC.
On Saturday April 9, students and youth from every background across Central New York will converge in Ithaca for the largest regional gathering of young people uniting for clean energy, local food, and social justice in our schools and communities. The event will be held from 10am-5pm at the Holiday Inn in downtown Ithaca. Registration is now open!
The youth Power summit will empower youth to:
- Stand together with young leaders from all backgrounds calling for bold action on clean energy, local food, and social justice
- Get inspired by youth-led efforts that are changing schools and communities across the region
- Share stories and collaborate with youth leaders, educators, and youth supporters
- Get plugged in to emerging campaigns and programs that are making an impact
The workshops being planned include: Energy Efficiency/Building Science; Local Food; Hydro-Fracking; Developing School energy efficiency Action Plans; Leadership Training; Political/Community Organizing; How to Work with Local Governments; Educator curricular support; Social Justice/Race+Class+Gender; Non-Violent Communication; and logistics for those attending the nationalPower Shift summit April 15-18, 2011.
The event will also serve as a local send-off for the Finger Lakes Delegation to the national Powershift 2011 conference in Washington DC on April 15th-18th in Washington DC. Hundreds of youth from Cornell, Ithaca College, TC3, Wells College, and area high schools will attend the 3-day national youth conference.
The idea for a local youth power summit came grew out of a youth energy gathering convened by CCE-Tompkins staff on January 27th. Almost 40 people from 21 groups, schools and programs came together to discuss current youth energy efforts and brainstorm ways groups can collaborate In the future. The dialogue focused on three core topics in hopes to bring individual efforts into an effective collaborative movement: curriculum, workforce development, and planning a youth power summit.
Look for next month's newsletter for more information on the Power Summit and other youth energy initiatives. Interested in joining the conversation? E-mail Shawn Lindabury at scl36@cornell.edu to learn more.
