My experience with Light Up Avondale has been transformative. I think it is great to see an institution work and care about its community, something that seems so scarce today. My work as a Green Corps Member with the Millcreek Alliance has been predominantly habitat restoration, invasive species removal, plant propagation, tree planting, composting, and trail work.
I was excited to start helping the city and the Avondale neighborhood save energy and burn less coal. As an environmental studies student at University of Cincinnati, I see this as an urgent goal to achieve. Thankfully, my work with Light Up Avondale has shown me the importance of the small-scale solutions.
Every individual light bulb reduces energy use by a few watts, which seems negligible. But, my team and I have changed hundreds and hundreds of light bulbs. Even though the change looks small, it is adding up to a greater impact. In addition to the environmental benefits to upgrading to LED, there are a lot of financial benefits too.
Those are real dollars that can go towards food, medicine, school supplies, and other expenses. We also must track a lot of data, and input it into spreadsheets.
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Light Up Avondale has allowed me to meet people in a way I never have before. Before an installation, I usually connect to the scheduled resident by phone before I meet them. And then myself and my team show up at their house to do a walk through, collect data, and then change out their bulbs.
