Related Articles
Have you ever driven down Jeanette Street by the streetcar garage and noticed this awesome blue house with Tibetan prayer flags hanging? It’s the home of Green Light New Orleans and its a nonprofit doing beneficial and inexpensive sustainable practices for New Orleans.
Volunteers outside the awesome Jeanette Street office
What is Green Light?
Green Light was founded in 2006 by Swiss native Andreas Hoffmann in the hopes of offsetting the pollution from his band’s tour. Green Light’s mission is to replace the lightbulbs of every homeowner in New Orleans with with energy efficient CFL bulbs. The best part- they will send a volunteer to install them for you totally free! Seriously, there are no income or neighborhood restrictions. If you live in New Orleans and have electricity in your dwelling, you are eligible to participate.
What is a CFL and why do I even want one?
CFLs are light bulbs that use about 75% less energy than regular old incandescent bulbs and emit the same amount of light (lumens). They also last about ten times longer. CFLs produce 75% less heat, so you can cut house cooling costs this summer. Aside from the environmental benefits, switching to CFL’s saves the average household $920 over the 3-5 year lifetime of the bulbs.
It’s not just money you’re saving when you switch to efficient lighting, for every eight homes that switch from incandescent bulbs to CFLs, New Orleans’ carbon footprint is reduced by an average of 71,000 pounds of CO2. That’s equal to the CO2 emissions from 4,000 gallons of gasoline! This is the ultimate win-win for us and the environment. It just goes to show that if we all make a little change, it can have a big impact. And Green Light is here to hold our hand while we do it.
Green Light is an awesome organization helping to make New Orleans a little more sustainable, beautiful, and green, all the while saving us some spare change (because wouldn’t you rather put that $920 towards better things…like tickets to every day of Jazzfest next year or 230 cones at Creole Creamery?) This is the simplest, easiest way to make your home more sustainable.
How Can I Get Involved?
Green Light’s newest project includes sending volunteers to install free backyard vegetable gardens. They are helping to put sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyles within reach of all New Orleans residents. If you want to give back and help Green Light on their mission, you can volunteer to install CFL’s or gardens for a day with your friends.
While I certainly don’t have the green thumb to capitalize on the garden installation, I can’t wait to get my free CFLs!
Why not try out your own? Kudos to Green Light, keep doing what you’re doing!
Do you know any other green companies or organizations in the city? Have cool ideas for New Orleans efforts to go-green? Tell us all about it in our Comments Section below!
![Volunteers outside the awesome Jeanette Street office](http://rideforthefuture.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_01311.jpg"){kind=link}