Suozzi Announces FREE Light Bulb Exchange in Levittown

Levittown Households to Receive 5 Energy-Saving Compact Fluorescent
Bulbs, as Part of ‘Green Levittown’ Initiative

 

Mineola, NY – As part of his Green Levittown campaign to reduce Levittown's carbon footprint 10% by the end of the year, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi announced a free light bulb exchange for Levittown households. The exchange will take place on Saturday, April 19, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at Yours Ours Mine Community Center, 152 Center Lane, Levittown.

This light bulb exchange could reduce Levittown’s carbon footprint by 3%. That’s 11.8 million fewer pounds of carbon dioxide emissions released into the environment.

Satco Products, a Green Levittown partner, is providing 20,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs to the Green Levittown effort, 16,500 of which will be given away at the light bulb exchange. 

“The choices we make – even about something as seemingly minor as light bulbs – do have consequences,” Suozzi said. “If an entire community can come together to make the right choices for our environment, that’s when great things start to happen. And that’s what Green Levittown is all about.”

The County has sent flyers to every Levittown household, and in exchange for the flyer –and five old light bulbs – each resident will receive five free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 75% less electricity and last 10 times longer than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs.

Brian Brandes, Vice President of Product Development with SATCO Products, Inc., said fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs and last up to ten times longer.

“With these compact fluorescent bulbs, people can save $70 per bulb on energy costs over the life of the bulb while helping to protect the environment by reducing the carbon footprint,” Brandes said, referring to his company’s 13-watt compact fluorescent, which is equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb. “The five light bulbs, which participants will receive at the Great Light Bulb Exchange, will save them up to $350 in energy costs over the life of the bulbs.” The estimated life of one bulb is 10,000 hours.

Green Levittown t-shirts will be given to the first 100 visitors who sign in at Saturday’s event. All participants will receive free raffle tickets for a chance to win an energy-saving air conditioner. And Levittown residents will have the opportunity to learn from the experts how small changes can make a big difference in home-heating and electricity costs; how to make homes more comfortable and more energy efficient, and how to be better consumers of natural resources.

Participants who visit all of the exhibitors’ tables will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free Intellidyne fuel economizer. The Intellidyne fuel economizer reduces energy consumption of a boiler by at least 10% by adjusting the burner run pattern to match the system’s heat load. The company is offering a $50 rebate and a special installation price during the month of April. Company representatives will be present to explain how the device works.

The light bulb exchange is part of Suozzi's Green Levittown initiative, launched late last year. Working with private business, utilities and environmentalists, Suozzi aims to turn America's First Suburb into the nation's first green suburb, by reducing its carbon footprint by 10% by the end of 2008.

“Being green can be easy, and we want America's first suburb to be America's greenest suburb,” Suozzi said.

Through this initiative, the iconic American suburb will be the first to reduce its impact on the environment in an organized and comprehensive way, by retrofitting houses with energy-efficient devices and home improvements. Through affordable financing rates and reduced costs, the program seeks to encourage homeowners to replace old boilers, upgrade windows and insulation, take advantage of new technologies such as solar heaters and biofuels – and switch to energy-efficient light bulbs.

A team of canvassers spent three months visiting every home in Levittown informing residents about the program and introducing Green Levittown's energy-saving options.

Nassau County's partners in the program include Satco Products, Intellidyne LLC, Long Island Power Authority, KeySpan, Lazard Ltd., P.C. Richard & Sons., Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Trager Oil Co., Alure Home Improvements, EarthKind Energy and Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

Yours Ours Mine Community Center (YOM) is located one mile south of Hempstead Turnpike and north of Old Jerusalem Road. Ample parking is available near the Center, but overflow parking will be available at the Wisdom Lane School adjacent to the YOM Adult Day Care Pavilion at 148 Center Lane.

For more information about Green Levittown, visit www.greenlevittown.com or call Citizens Campaign for the Environment at (516) 390-7150.