Visit Greener Bloomfield

Joining us in the Quad will be the Bloomfield Recycling Committee (Saturday), the Bloomfield Open Space Committee, the Essex Green Party, and Composting demos on Sunday (Bloomfield residents can even order a compost bin for just $35).

Bloomfield residents Simone JohnBaptiste (left) and Christine Bruncati discuss their routes before heading out with an allotment of 50 bulbs each for the Project Porchlight giveaway. (Bloomfield Life)

Thirty-five volunteers spread out across Bloomfield on August 15 in sweltering heat, delivering free energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs to 1,650 households as part of a Project Porchlight blitz. That many bulbs will result in $50,000 in energy savings, 544.5 tons CO2 emissions prevented of entering the environment, and 94 cars removed from the road in the form of Green House Gases(GHG)! In addition, 600 individuals signed a pledge to change a standard light bulb to a more energy-efficient one, about half of what’s needed for a Sustainable Jersey challenge (you can still sign our pledge online).

RISING ABOVE THE DIM: Nearly 35 volunteers went door-to-door in town Aug. 15 to distribute free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, one of many green-based initiatives sponsored by Greener Bloomfield, a local environmental advocacy organization. Above, Greener Bloomfield member Erin Ihde shares a laugh with Clinton Street resident Liz Holleran (along with her son Luke) after receiving a free CFL bulb. (Bloomfield Life)

From Bloomfield Life’s article:

Several township council members made it their mission to spread word of the CFL push. Ever the environmentalist, Councilman Nick Joanow claims practicing sustainability was viewed in a negative light until somewhat recently. Many were labeled as ‘tree huggers’ and ‘river rats,’ he said. ‘Let others know we are in this for the community,’ he told the crowd during a brief orientation at Watchung Presbyterian Church. ‘We’re all in, focused on this issue.’

Mayor Ray McCarthy, also on hand, praised the volunteers’ efforts and what they mean for the community.

For those of you at home, we won’t didn’t get to every neighborhood, but we‘ll did get to quite a few. Please welcome our volunteers warmly. You’ll recognize them from their Project Porchlight t-shirts and the green bags of light bulbs they’ll be carrying. If you have any questions about whether the person at your door is one of our volunteers, please call the Bloomfield Police Desk at 973-680-4100 and give them the volunteer’s name, which they can check against our list. Click for more information on Project Porchlight and the bulbs. And see the article in Bloomfield Life!

Project Porchlight’s Bloomfield Blitz will contribute 10 points toward Sustainable Jersey certification if we can get 1,200 pledges to change a light. You can also sign the pledge at our website!

What did YOU like best about the Bloomfield Green Fest?

Let’s look at the numbers. Based on the national average cost of electricity (and Bloomfield’s is higher than the national average), it will cost $9.00 to illuminate a single Christmas tree with 5 strings of 25 lamp incandescent string lights for a 30 day holiday season. With LED string lighting, it would cost just $.90. More lights outside? More savings! LEDs also last about 10 times longer than traditional light strings, saving you the cost to replace them more frequently.

You can get LED holiday lights at Home Depot and most other places lights are sold or get them online from Amazon.com and lots of other sites. They come in large and small sizes, strings or icicles, colors or plain white (if you like white lights, you might want to get “warm white” or “soft white” to get a color similar to your old incandescents — bright white LEDs look blue-ish). 

If you still have incandescent holiday lights, either the big ones or the mini-lights, and don’t want to just throw them away, you can recycle them! Just send them to HolidayLEDs.com, they’ll recycle them responsibly, and they’ll send you a coupon for 15% off anything on their site.

Patrons at a McDonald’s in Chicago, which was environmentally redesigned with tables made from recycled material.

In the Business section of the Saturday, Nov. 8, New York Times, an article entitled “Green Plans in Blueprints of Retailers” describes how stores and fast-food restaurants are building green to win customers and lower operating costs.

“You get energy savings, and you can tell customers you are greener. That’s a win-win.” 
- Neil Z. Stern, a retail consultant

This shows that our efforts to include green building guidelines in the Bloomfield Center Redevelopment Plan are being matched by retailers, and it shouldn’t be so difficult to get companies to build green in Bloomfield, since it directly benefits their bottom line. The article mentions Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Subway, Target, Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Pizza Fusion as stores going green.

The article goes on to say, “The green building boom is partly being driven by retailers’ desire to capture the attention of consumers who have become fascinated by hybrid cars, energy-saving light bulbs and wind turbines. But more important for the companies, it is a way to shave long-term operating costs at stores and restaurants, which consume copious amounts of energy and water for ovens and fryers, heaters and air conditioners, sinks and toilets.”

Wal-Mart’s “high efficiency” stores save 25-40% in energy costs. A Subway store saves 20% in electricity while selling 43% more than a store down the street. A McDonald’s uses permeable pavement to collect rainwater for irrigation, and has a green roof, skylights, LED lights, non-toxic finishes and cleaners, and low-flow toilets and waterless urinals, saving water, energy, money, and maintenance. A pizza outlet uses draft from its ovens to heat water. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bloomfield go green with some of these ideas?

We’ll feature additional posts about the details behind the town’s Paperless Council project, which was implemented by Greener Bloomfield organizer John Palomaki. We’ll also highlight Greener Bloomfield’s work in getting green building and other sustainability details into the Redevelopment Plan, which is being sent to the Planning Board for approval. Greener Bloomfield organizer Meredith Nole, an energy efficient lighting expert with Warshauer Electric and President of the Illuminating Engineers Society of New Jersey, will be working on a lighting assessment for the town’s light bulb replacements.