Prior to participating in the Sunday day of service at the Campus Progress Southern Regional Conference, most attendees would have scoffed at the idea of light bulbs changing the world. But the young organizers of the Let’s Raise a Million campaign proved everyone wrong. Let’s Raise a Million (LRAM) is a service project that bridges the gaps between environmental degradation, social justice and poverty by distributing compact-fluorescent light bulbs to people in low-income areas. Not only do the bulbs help reduce energy costs, they also raise awareness about the importance of sustainability. The project views the high-efficiency bulbs as ‘seeds’ that are planted in residents’ minds in hopes that with time and nurturing, they will help them understand how much they have to gain from reducing their environmental footprint.

“This campaign is about starting conversations in communities that haven’t historically been included in the debate. It’s about facilitating kitchen table discussion on the ground level,” said LRAM’s creator and Morehouse College graduate Tony C. Anderson. “Our goal is to raise a million compact-fluorescent light bulbs over four years to be to be distributed to communities of color, underrepresented communities, and communities that could use them. One light bulb may not make a difference, but install thirty, forty, fifty of these light bulbs and you will see a difference in your bill, in your energy costs.”

 

LRAM brings volunteers to targeted neighborhoods and divides them into small groups that are trained and sent out on pre-determined installation routes. These teams are called ‘harvesters,’ as they ‘harvest’ old incandescent light bulbs for every fluorescent bulb ‘sowed.’ Armed with these bulbs and information about their benefits, volunteers knock on doors and initiate conversations with local residents. Considering that few people are interested in being lectured about the climate crisis on a weekend afternoon, the volunteers focus their message on the savings residents can receive by switching to energy-efficient bulbs (up to $2,000 in 5 years per bulb). If the residents agree to the swap their bulbs,  the LRAM volunteers help the residents change their light bulbs and provide them with important information about their individual energy use, dependence on local sources of “dirty” energy (such as coal power plants) and the rates of respiratory illness caused by proximity to such plants.

Approximately 170 volunteers, including over 100 Campus Progress conference attendees, participated in the LRAM day of service. In a span of just a few hours at the Donnelly Gardens Apartment Complex in Southwest Atlanta, the volunteers installed over a thousand energy-efficient light bulbs in over a hundred households. The action resulted in the community saving an estimated $80,000 in energy bills, and also contributed to a decrease in the particulate emissions in the area, as the energy efficiency of the new light bulbs translates to approximately 394,100 pounds of coal that will not have to be burned.  

This grassroots action has been an effective agent for social change and is a testament to the power of young people’s creative and organizational power. Campus Progress is always excited to provide support to innovative service projects that build bridges between different areas of need. As a project that addresses issues like poverty, environmental health, racism and climate change in a positive, service-oriented way with tangible results, LRAM serves a model for those interested in bringing progressive change to their communities and beyond.

Campus Progress would like to thank and the Let’s Raise a Million organizers, the residents of the Donnelly Gardens Apartments and the attendees of the Southern Regional Conference for sharing a fantastic and inspiring day with us. It was one that we will not soon forget!

If you participated in the action on Sunday, or would like to see a detailed run-down of the successes of the day, please take a look at the full report.