Our United Nations Sustainable Goal of the week is #12: Responsible Consumption and Production. The idea is to promote resource and energy, sustainable infrastructure, and provided access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all.
In mid-October, we rolled out our third project, Brighter Futures. The project seeks to replace beneficiaries’ incandescent light bulbs with LED light bulbs, educate beneficiaries on best-use practices, and teach beneficiaries how else they can reduce their energy bill, saving money and reducing environmental impact.
Replacing incandescent light bulbs with LEDs leads to substantial environmental and financial savings. Each bulb we replace saves 90 pounds of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere each year. Greenhouse gasses are among are biggest climate-related threats, and limiting CO2 emissions is perhaps the best way that we can mitigate climate change on an individual level.
Beneficiaries save Q210, around $27, per bulb per year from reduced energy costs of LED light bulbs. Considering that many families have more than one incandescent bulb to replace, our Brighter Futures project can help families save large amounts of money. This is important for two reasons, primarily because financial savings provide disposable income for our beneficiaries, many of which live in poverty. Second, this allows us to teach our beneficiaries that many of the same actions that lead to financial savings are frequently environmental in nature.
Electrical appliance costs add up, and we teach beneficiaries the benefits of unplugging their phone when it’s charged, turning off the television when they are not watching, and other methods to reduce electrical costs and negative environmental impact.
We are so proud of our new program and we are excited to see it grow over the next few months and years. Responsible consumption is possible, and we will introduce that idea to our beneficiaires in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.