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It’s been less than a year since Project Porchlight proudly announced we’d hit the 2 million mark, having delivered 2 million free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs throughout North America. Yet here we are again, nine months later, announcing to the world that we’ve surpassed the 3 million mark!

“I’m humbled by the efforts of our volunteers,” says One Change President and Founder Stuart Hickox, who launched Project Porchlight—the non-profit organization’s flagship campaign—in 2005. “When my friends and I started out delivering 50,000 free CFL bulbs in Ottawa South, we never dreamed the campaign would end up having such a widespread reach. We owe a tremendous thank you to the thousands of generous volunteers and community groups who donated their time to Project Porchlight; because of their efforts, we’ve been able to reach millions of households across North America, helping families save money and energy.

Project Porchlight is doing more than simply handing people a light bulb. It’s empowering people with the knowledge they need to make smart energy choices in other areas of their lives. The initiative was founded on the principle that simple actions matter. Stuart was inspired to put that principle to work when he discovered just how much pollution could be reduced if every household in Canada replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb.

“The idea is that if each individual makes one small change, it will add up to have a significant impact on a global scale,” says Gail Logan, Director of Communications at One Change. “This goes way beyond replacing a light bulb. Our philosophy—that simple actions matter—applies to all sorts of changes. Project Porchlight has proven just how big an impact an individual can have, and it’s also shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that people do want to take part in protecting the environment.”

That proven commitment to going green is exactly why the One Change team is moving forward with more campaigns and initiatives in 2010. “We’re continuing to mobilize community groups and bring together leaders to show the world what people can achieve when they have the right tools to take simple first steps toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Stuart. “It’s incredible how far a light bulb or tire gauge can go toward influencing positive behaviour changes. One change leads to another.”

In the nearly five years since Project Porchlight was born, more than 3 million free energy-saving light bulbs have been distributed by 12,000 volunteers and 3000 community groups in more than 900 communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Vermont, New Jersey and Puget Sound. The energy-efficient CFL bulbs have helped residents reduce their energy use by 29, 879, 903 megawatt hours, save more than $ 116 million, and stop 791,529 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the air.

As Project Porchlight earns increasing recognition worldwide, One Change is building on the momentum of its flagship campaign to encourage even more simple first actions that will help protect the environment. We launched the hugely successful One Change: Fuel pilot campaign in Ottawa over the summer of 2009. And we’re currently developing a new Water campaign.

“Project Porchlight has helped open people’s eyes to the fact that they can make a difference by making smart choices that protect the environment,” says Stuart. “The light bulb has been the catalyst for inspiring further change. We want to build on the success we’ve had with Project Porchlight and continue to show people in just how many ways their simple actions matter. The light bulb is only the beginning.”

Folks from Ottawa South came out to celebrate the New Year by attending a soiree with the Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty (pictured here) on January 14, 2010 and One Change was in attendance to share free digital tire gauges and tips on fuel conservation. Dalton McGuinty’s ‘New Year’s Levée,’ held at the RA Centre on Riverside Drive, provided an opportunity for constituents to meet with Dalton and David McGuinty and to hear about what is on the Premier’s agenda for 2010. Over 100 guests attended, including The Honourable Jim Watson, MPP for Ottawa West—Nepean and candidate for the Ottawa Mayoral Election, The Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa—Vanier, Mr. Jean-Marc Lalonde, MPP for Glengarry—Prescott— Russell.

With the theme of making a better Ontario, hot topics of the evening included the HST tax, implementation of all day kindergarten, and providing support for those in desperate need in Haiti. In keeping with the theme of the evening One Change encouraged attendees to take simple actions to conserve fuel to help combat climate change. One Change gave out nearly 100 digital tire gauges in an effort to help residents of Ottawa South reduce their fuel consumption, GHG emissions and increase vehicle safety on the road.

One Change is preparing to launch One Change: Fuel in the spring of 2010 across the province of Ontario. The campaign is a community-based social marketing effort that uses local volunteers to help their friends and neighbours learn to conserve fuel and reduce CO2 emissions. Be on the watch for One Change: Fuel rolling through your community this spring!

After successfully launching Project Porchlight in Ottawa South, the not-for-prfoit organization One Change has expanded its Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) campaign across Canada into the United States.

One Change’s newest campaign “Simple Actions Matter” focuses on fuel efficiency. Building on the success of Project Porchlight and the participation of community volunteers, free keychain tire gauges will be delivered to communities across North America. This small gesture will help to bring awareness and individual action on personal vehicle efficiency and can save you up to 5% of your annual fuel costs! A series of on-site pressure clinics and public events will roll out in the summer and autumn of 2009, with a new set of energy, automotive and retail partners and sponsors.

I was pleased to join Stuart Hickox, Executive Director of One Change to launch this worthwhile campaign at Canadian Tire at Bank and Heron.

For more information, please visit www.onechange.org or call (613) 232-5892.

* source:www.davidmcguinty.com/

One change. Two million times over. It’s amazing the impact people can have when they believe their actions matter.

It was this belief that inspired One Change Founder and Executive Director Stuart Hickox to take action when he famously discovered a surprising statistic on the Energy Star website in 2004: If every household in Canada replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb, the reduction in pollution would be the equivalent of taking 66,000 cars off the road.

“I thought, ‘How hard can it be to get everyone to change one light bulb?’” Stuart recalls. Always connected to the grassroots, Stuart joined forces with a couple of friends to launch One Change’s flagship campaign—Project Porchlight—in 2005. The team started out by delivering 50,000 free CFL bulbs to households in Ottawa South.

Since then, Project Porchlight has ballooned into a continent-wide campaign, empowering millions of North Americans to believe that they can protect the environment by making smart energy choices. More than 2 million free energy-saving light bulbs have been distributed by 10,000 volunteers and 2,000 community groups in more than 500 communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Vermont, and New Jersey. The energy-efficient CFL bulbs have helped residents reduce their energy use by 1 billion kilowatt hours, save more than $86 million, and stop 630,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the air.

Stuart believes that Project Porchlight is so successful because it does more than increase awareness—it empowers people to believe that simple actions matter. “Most people want to help the environment,” says Stuart. “The problem is they don’t believe that they alone can make a difference. Project Porchlight shows them that they can.”

Today, the campaign is more relevant than ever. Not only is it saving energy, it also helps people save money. Given that the environment and the economy present two of the biggest global crises of our time, Project Porchlight is a much-needed source of inspiration.

“Climate change and economic turmoil are inextricably linked,” says One Change President Ralph Rick. “Not only because climate change will inevitably cause more economic hardship; but because modern economies have contributed to—and intensified—the problem of climate change. Crises like these leave people feeling helpless and disengaged. We believe that real economic and environmental progress will be achieved by empowering everyday people to make changes they can believe in.”

As Project Porchlight moves forward, Stuart and One Change will continue to tip awareness into action by making simple first steps accessible to everyone. “We want to show people that something as simple as changing a light bulb can catalyze a wide-scale shift toward more sustainable choices and lifestyles,” says Stuart.

Those choices can now be measured in the millions. That’s a lot of power for just one change.