San Francisco is distributing 100,000 free LED light bulbs throughout the city to help bring electricity bills down and improve the lives of residents by providing them with better-quality light.
San Francisco is distributing 100,000 free LED light bulbs throughout the city to help bring electricity bills down and improve the lives of residents. Each bulb is expected to last 22 years, which is 25 times longer than the average incandescent bulb. San Francisco Department of the Environment
BY BILL PICTURE
Published: May, 2018
San Francisco is distributing 100,000 free LED light bulbs throughout the city to help bring electricity bills down and improve the lives of residents by providing them with better-quality light.
Last month, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed and the San Francisco Department of the Environment (SF Environment) celebrated the launch of the “Going LED” initiative. Organizers say the simple act of replacing incandescent bulbs with the energy-efficient LED bulbs will save 5.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity and over $1 million in utility costs annually.
Set aside for disadvantaged San Franciscans are 60,000 of the 100,000-bulb total. “The residents and organizations that benefit the most from LED light bulbs are the least able to afford them—which is why initiatives like this are so important,” said Breed in a written statement. “‘Going LED’ demonstrates our city’s continuing commitment to fight climate change with solutions that improve the quality of life for San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents.”
“But it’s not enough to just buy the bulbs and give them away,” said SF Environment Director Deborah Raphael. “In order for them to do any good, the bulbs have to actually be installed. It does no one any good, least of all our planet, if the bulbs just sit in their packages in a drawer somewhere.”
To ensure the bulbs are used, SF Environment has partnered with the maintenance staff of 45 San Francisco housing providers to replace existing incandescent bulbs with the LED bulbs.
“At first glance, this doesn’t seem all that remarkable, but think about the residents of the SROs (single room occupancy) downtown,” Raphael said. “They’ve got one bulb to light their entire room; and when that bulb goes out, they’re literally left in the dark. They can barely afford to eat, much less spend money on a light bulb. And even if they could buy a bulb, they likely don’t have access to a ladder and probably can’t stand on a chair. These people may not care about energy efficiency, but these bulbs are going to make their lives better.”
How (much)?
“Let’s just say it wasn’t easy,” said SF Environment Outreach Coordinator Becca Raybin, who was tasked with finding a light bulb manufacturer wiling to not only negotiate a low bulk-purchase price, but also completely redesign the bulb’s packaging.
“The boxes are usually cubes and we wanted a more rectangular box that was easier to carry,” Raphael said. “And we wanted to print instructions on the box to let people know how to dispose of their old bulbs.”
“And these are really good quality bulbs,” she added. Each bulb is expected to last 22 years. That’s 25 times longer than the average incandescent bulb. The bulbs were purchased with money awarded to the City of San Francisco for winning a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) challenge. The challenge was to inspire 600 local businesses to green their operations and install energy-efficient fixtures.
“So we had this money and we were like, ‘How are we going to spend it?’” said Raphael. “We wanted to do something that would benefit all San Franciscans, and I think this program we came up with is a win-win-win-win situation for everyone.”
Of the 40,000 LED bulbs not set aside for low-income residents, half will be distributed to San Francisco residents through the public library system. Anyone who wants one can go to a local library branch, show a library card and get a free bulb. The remaining 20,000 LED bulbs will be given to schools to incorporate into their sustainability curriculum.
“It’s a homework assignment,” Raphael said. “Go home and have your parents install a bulb, then come back and tell us how your lives were impacted.”
The bulbs were only recently distributed so stories haven’t yet begun to trickle in, but Raybin was lucky enough to be at one school when the bulbs were handed out. “The kids were so excited,” she said. “They really understood the value of what they were holding in their hands, and couldn’t wait to get home and talk to their parents.”
Encouraging kids to be involved in sustainability is a key part of SF Environment’s outreach effort. “This is the next generation of environmental leaders,” Raphael said. “And kids have a tendency to manage up, so we’re counting on them to be messengers for environmental stewardship moving forward.”
A long way to go
Raphael is proud of what SF Environment has achieved over the last decade or so, but insists the fight is far from over. “Let’s put it this way—no one would dare walk out their front door nowadays and leave the shower on, but they still might leave their lights on,” she said. “We have a way to go for people to value energy the way they now value water.”
A big challenge, according to Raphael, is the city’s high residential turnover rate. Every time someone moves away, they take with them what they’ve learned about living sustainably. “I guess it’s a good thing that they carry our message with them to their next destination, but it means there’s always a new batch of people who we need to reach,” said Raphael.
“So we keep doing what we do, trying to make sustainability second nature: ‘Of course I’m going to buy an LED bulb the next time I need to buy a light bulb. Of course I’m going to take public transit. Of course I’m going to walk the three blocks to the store instead of driving there.’ They’re simple little things we can do that have a huge collective impact.”
There will be 20,000 LED bulbs available to San Francisco residents at local libraries. Another 20,000 will be distributed to schools to incorporate into their sustainability curriculum. Left image: San Francisco Public Library. Right image: San Francisco Department of the Environment.
