It's always nice to hear about folks working on projects similar to the PLC. It seems like neighbor-to-neighbor energy savings collaboration is really catching on, both across the city and across "the pond". When we first began the PLC, the Project Lightbulb team attended a community meeting where representatives from the Reservoir Hill community in West Baltimore were talking about their very own version of the PLC. A portion of the funding that fuels the Project Lightbulb Challenge--the Community Energy Savers Grant--is also helping to fund a project in Reservoir Hill. Residents were excitedly talking in January about putting up door decals, signs, or in some other way having residents display their energy usage. So it's nice to know that even if the PLC can't reach every neighborhood or block in Baltimore, at least other groups are working toward similar goals. And the whole public display of energy usage seems to be a very hot idea right now.
Check out the link below to learn more about the incredible effect neighborly cooperation and public energy usage display has had on one neighborhood in the U.K.
U.K. Neighborhood Records Its Electricity Use on the Street
http://www.good.is/post/u-k-neighborhood-records-its-electricity-use-on-the-street/
According to the article, after only three weeks, residents reported a 15% drop in energy usage! WOW!! This is very inspiring to all of us at the PLC. I love that they write the block averages right on the street--it is very eye-catching and definitely a constant presence. I'm not sure that the paint they use on the pavement would fly here in Baltimore, but I love that the display is so artistic...it keeps things fun, and helps to beautify the street. At the end of the article, the author actually asks CAN YOU IMAGINE if a movement like this were to take hold in America? CAN YOU IMAGINE if people were using in-home energy display devices to help monitor their energy use? In a few more months, hopefully we'll be able to stop using our imaginations and look at actual charts, graphs, and resident testimonies to learn exactly how using devices and displaying energy usage publicly effects citizen's consumption right here at home.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
April showers...
...May be keeping some folks indoors, but the PLC crew has been out and about, and flowers aren't the only things springing up on Baltimore lawns...within the next week, 20 new yard signs will be up throughout our Challenge blocks, and we can't wait to see how this affects our numbers. Hopefully with more signs popping up outside residents' homes, recruitment will become a bit easier. Muhammed and I have also decided to re-canvass our target blocks with a new flier informing residents that the Challenge is already well underway and that we need full block participation. Once residents know that others on their block are involved (and that we aren't trying to get them to switch their energy company!!) I believe they will be much more receptive to the Challenge. It's definitely "crunch time" as far as recruitment, but things are coming together quickly and by the end of the month we expect to have at least 10 participating households on each of our 10 target blocks.
Our block captains have been a HUGE help in recruiting more residents. One of our captains called me this evening and told me she had personally gone around--on foot--to each of her neighbors' homes and told them about the PLC. I feel so grateful for the passionate, involved citizens I have had the honor to meet and collaborate with thus far during my term of service with Civic Works. It is truly inspiring to see residents taking the initiative and getting folks involved in the program. What a morale booster for the PLC crew! I can't thank our block captains enough for all of their help :o)
Today we also began brainstorming the logistics of the *drum roll* ......BLOCK PARTY! The block party will go to the block that collectively saves the highest average number of kWh's over the course of the competition, and will probably happen sometime in July. A big party like this takes a lot of planning and we want to make sure that we give the winning block a really awesome thank-you gift for months of hard work. One great idea that was brought up today would be inviting the crew from the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge as well as the folks from Real Food Farm to the party. This would be a great way to get a lot of energy-conscious individuals together for a good time and introduce our block residents to other awesome services available to them through Civic Works. It should be a fun time for everyone to relax, eat, play games, and also network...because although the Challenge will culminate in the block party, ideally our residents will continue to collaborate and work as a team to save energy and save money for a long time to come. Lots of new events are on the forecast...check in with the PLC crew for more updates soon!
Our block captains have been a HUGE help in recruiting more residents. One of our captains called me this evening and told me she had personally gone around--on foot--to each of her neighbors' homes and told them about the PLC. I feel so grateful for the passionate, involved citizens I have had the honor to meet and collaborate with thus far during my term of service with Civic Works. It is truly inspiring to see residents taking the initiative and getting folks involved in the program. What a morale booster for the PLC crew! I can't thank our block captains enough for all of their help :o)
Today we also began brainstorming the logistics of the *drum roll* ......BLOCK PARTY! The block party will go to the block that collectively saves the highest average number of kWh's over the course of the competition, and will probably happen sometime in July. A big party like this takes a lot of planning and we want to make sure that we give the winning block a really awesome thank-you gift for months of hard work. One great idea that was brought up today would be inviting the crew from the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge as well as the folks from Real Food Farm to the party. This would be a great way to get a lot of energy-conscious individuals together for a good time and introduce our block residents to other awesome services available to them through Civic Works. It should be a fun time for everyone to relax, eat, play games, and also network...because although the Challenge will culminate in the block party, ideally our residents will continue to collaborate and work as a team to save energy and save money for a long time to come. Lots of new events are on the forecast...check in with the PLC crew for more updates soon!
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