Green Light New Orleans


During the month of December, I decided to try something different and volunteered for Green Light New Orleans. This organization believes in making a positive impact on the environment by taking small initiatives. The volunteers install energy efficient light bulbs, rain barrels and back yard garden vegetables in the homes of New Orleans residents. I felt very connected with the ideas of this organization because I am also someone who believes that if we all take small steps to reduce our carbon footprints, then it would make a huge environmental difference. I was partnered up with two Tulane undergrad students and we were given the address to 4 houses to install energy efficient light bulbs. During our drive, the students and I opened up about our backgrounds and got to know each other really well. The first house to we went to was in East New Orleans and we were greeted by a gentleman was looked to be in his late 30s. Our first task was to get permission to enter his house and we did this by handing him a paper to sign some documents. We then explored the house to see how many light bulbs needed to be replaced. In total, we replaced about 13 light bulbs for that house and calculated how much energy the household had saved with these replacements. Then we went to another house and repeated the same steps. I really enjoyed this volunteering experience because it was more laid back in terms of physical work compared to Habitats for Humanity, but it was just as rewarding.

In all, my volunteering experiences this semester have been full of excitement and hard work. I’ve met incredible people on this journey and I can’t wait to see what next semester holds!

Total hours 24.5

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