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News
August 24, 2009: Project 20/20 collaborates with East Bay Community Action Program and Roger Williams University as a job site for the Day of Service with their freshman orientation.
August 21, 2009: Eight Project 20/20 employees who participated in the Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program graduated
July 6, 2009: Eight youth from the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence's Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program start work with Project 20/20.
April 22, 2009: Project 20/20 has been recognized for an EPA Merit Award!
April 21, 2009: Project 20/20 has changed the light bulbs in 3,000 homes.
February 28, 2009: Project 20/20 has changed the light bulbs in 2,500 homes; we're halfway there!
December 30, 2008: Project 20/20 has changed the light bulbs in 2,000 houses.
November 25, 2008: Project 20/20 has changed the light bulbs in 1,500 houses.
October 3, 2008: Project 20/20 has changed the light bulbs in 1,000 houses.
The Basics
Project 20/20 was started in 2008 by Brown University students to retrofit lighting in low-income Rhode Island residences, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the greater Providence community. At no cost to residents, students install compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which generate immediate savings on monthly utility bills. Project 20/20 is funded through the Community Carbon Use Reduction at Brown (CCURB) initiative and a grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation. Through this project, Brown University shows commitment and leadership in combating climate change through reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the community.
The Strategy
Normally the CFLs cost more than traditional incandescent bulbs, and have been harder to promote to families of limited resources. Project 20/20 helps to overcome this problem by providing CFLs free to these families, while educating the community about the economic and environmental benefits of adapting CFLs. The Project aims to serve 5,000 low-income RI households, each of which stands to save $10 to $15 each month on their electricity bills. Brown University benefits by taking credit for the reduction in greenhouse gases.
The Program
Brown University students have partnered with professors, Roger Williams University students, Bay View High School students and East Bay Community Action Program volunteers in order to visit the homes of those who have signed up for this service. In preparation for each installation staff call the resident to set up an appointment at a time when an adult will be home. A pair of Project 20/20 team members arrive at the home, discuss the benefits of the light bulbs, and proceed to change every incandescent light bulb that the resident guides us to. The CFLs we install are not appropriate for use on dimmer or three-way circuits.
Project Origins
Beginning in the spring of 2007, and continuing through the pilot phase in April of 2008, Brown University professor Steve Hamburg, students Michael Glassman '09, Shane Easter '10, Yasmine Yu '10 and Michelle Gantos '11, and community member David Fox worked to plan the operations of Project 20/20. Envisioned as a model project for the CCURB initiative, the team successfully applied for funding, and planned the budget, supply procurement, marketing, website, transportation, staffing, insurance and record-keeping. In May of 2008 the planning team hired a paid summer staff and Project 20/20 took off.
ISPN Partnership
In the summer of 2009, Project 20/20 partnered with the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence by serving as a job site for their Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program. The program provided non-violence training for some 80 at-risk youth and placed them with summer jobs, integrating them into the working world. Project 20/20 was fortunate enough to host eight of those students, who worked twenty hours a week with the Project for seven weeks, starting in July. The collabroation was a great experience for both the Brown student employees and the youth from the Institute, whose contribution to Project 20/20's success this summer cannot be overstated. The Institute for the Study & Pracitce of Nonviolence is a wonderful organization, and we at Project 20/20 are proud to have worked with them.
In the Media
Summer 2009 Staff
Spring 2009 Staff
Contact Us
Please email us at proj2020 at gmail dot com, or you may call our office at (401) 863 7976. For more information, visit brown.edu/ccurb