Energize Connecticut Energize CT Logo 5-2-16

Almost 250 Darien Residents Traded 1,300 Lightbulbs at All Things Green Fest

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Nearly 250 Darien residents recently exchanged almost 1,300 incandescent light bulbs for new, energy-efficient LED bulbs for free during the town’s first-ever light bulb swap. The light bulb exchange took place during the All Things Green Festival at Darien Library. Each Darien resident who swapped out five of their home’s old, inefficient light bulbs is expected to save more than $50 in annual energy costs. ___________
— an announcement, slightly adapted, from Energize CT
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Combined, these residents will save approximately $13,000 annually. Over the lifetime of the new LED bulbs, they will collectively save approximately $300,000.

All Things Green outside 4-24-16

Fun Learning for Kids, Practical Advice for Adults at Library’s Green Festival

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Darien Library’s “All Things Green Festival” held Sunday during the weekend of Earth Day, put a stress on practical things you can do to save energy and interesting things your kids can learn about how some new technologies work. Kids (and adults) were invited to plant a sunflower, either for the library or for themselves, or learn about how solar panels create electricity, or about Darien High School’s fuel cell car (which just competed this weekend in Shell Oil’s Eco-Marathon, held in Detroit). Adults could exchange up to five regular light bulbs for LED light bulbs — a type that uses one of the most energy-efficient kinds of lighting on the market — or learn how they could get a state-sponsored energy audit of their home that could save them money by using less electricity, gas, heating oil or even water. Nicole Sanchez of Direct Energy Solar was there to demonstrate how a simple battery made with materials including pennies and clothespins could conduct electricity. Solar cells can work a lot like batteries, she said.