Project 20/20 is recognized by EPA
Photo taken during 2009 EPA Award Ceremony, held at Boston's Faneuil Hall on Earth Day 2009.
From left to right:
Ira Leighton, EPA Acting Regional Administrator;
David Fox, Project 20/20 Information Coordinator;
Shane Easter, Project 20/20 Internal Coordinator;
Tess Hart, Project 20/20 Team Orange Manager;
Libby Kimzey, Project 20/20 External Coordinator;
Stephen Perkins, EPA Acting Deputy Regional Administrator.
Environmental, Community, Academic & Non-Profit Organization Environmental Merit Award
Project 20/20
In Providence, Rhode Island, a Brown University student-run program called Project 20/20 has developed and perfected a replicable model to reduce global warming pollution on a large scale, while helping communities of modest means cope with fluctuating energy costs. Their strategy involves the replacement of incandescent lighting in low-income households with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's) at no charge to the residents. This simple act generates significant utility bill savings and concomitant greenhouse gas reductions, empowering the family to take steps to further reduce their bills while protecting the environment. Since the spring of 2008, student employees of Project 20/20 replaced 36,242 light bulbs in 2,415 Rhode Island low-income residences, saving the families over $700,000 on their utility bills and offsetting over 4,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. The success of Project 20/20 has received widespread, national recognition. Their work will continue into the coming year as it begins its first seed expansion at low-income neighborhoods, working for the DC Department of the Environment. Here they will continue their efforts to curb the global climate crisis, while providing valuable green-collar job vocational skills and educational opportunities in the field of energy efficiency.