The event began on a gorgeous Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping. Another perfect day to save people energy and money by replacing the old dusty incandescent bulbs with brand new energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. The day started with myself loading the car up while enjoying a light breakfast of hash browns and eggs.
I proceeded to load up our caravan of light bulbs and embark on a quest of epic proportions. With our fellow travellers we proceeded to cross the Connecticut River keeping in mind our goals for the day “Be Neighborly, Be Efficient, Save Energy”. As we journeyed down the roads of Glastonbury towards our appointed destination, we felt a calm descend over van, trance music was lightly playing and butterflies were flying about. It was a truly splendid day.
As we got out of the car, at the corner of duck pond rd. and great swamp rd. we divided up our tasks, each appointed group heading into battle. The teams were Chamae Munroe and myself on one team. Jenna Zelenetz and Kate Hope on the other. Kayla DeCarr was organizing and was set up at a table on duck pond rd. The event went swimmingly well at first, with only a couple of houses either not being present at their homes, or were not interested in the program after discovering that they had already changed out a significant number of their bulbs to CFL’s.
We reconvened after the lighting sweeps were complete and debriefed about the effectiveness of the sweep. All in all I believed that the sweep demonstrated our professionalism and courteous manner while also changing out light bulbs in a timely and efficient manner; with a grace and candor that is becoming of our program. The effectiveness of this program is made up of the minute details that help us to effectively run this program and I believe that through this event on Saturday we engaged the public and demonstrated our talents. Just listen to what the other team members thought about the sweep:
“My favorite part of the Glastonbury CFL Sweep was when a woman came up to my table with a plastic bag full of light bulbs to exchange for CFLs. When I explained that we would replace the light bulbs for her in a 30-minute visit, she said all of her light fixtures already had CFLs and that she found these in a cupboard. They were really dusty. “ Kayla DeCarr
“This was actually my first time going on a CFL sweep, although there have been several in other towns. I think it is great how efficient you can actually be with your time. The visits we completed all took around 30 minutes to complete and 6 out of 7 of the homes that we went to signed up for Home Energy Solutions. Overall it was a very effective day and it was great to meet homeowner’s who care about their energy waste!” Kate Hope
“The best part of the day for me was when we drove up Great Swamp Rd. for our first visit. The street was lined with Neighbor-to-Neighbor yard signs (“Join Us! We’ve taken the Challenge!”) staked outside the houses of residents who had already participated in the program, and it was inspiring to actually see how many homes we’ve touched rather than just watching our participation numbers grow on the monthly reports. On this one street alone we had already reached so many people with our message of efficiency and neighborliness! WOW!
Then we knocked on our first door and had it slammed in our face.
But the rest of the day was pretty good.” Jenna Zelenetz
There you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. Real people, real light bulbs, real energy savings. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. Thanks for tuning in viewers and looking forward to more posts in the future.
Kevin Donahue
