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EPA Energy Star 'Change A Light' bus tour to hold two events this week in Chicago

Release Date: 10/10/2007
Contact Information: Phillippa Cannon, 312-353-6218, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 07-OPA174

CHICAGO (Oct. 10, 2007) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 10-city national Energy Star "Change A Light" bus tour has scheduled events this week at an elementary school on the north side of Chicago and at Navy Pier. The 5,000-mile tour started Oct. 3 outside Disneyland in Los Angeles and will end Oct. 23 in New York City.

"The bus tour promotes energy-efficient lighting as an easy, effective and money-saving way to help fight climate change," said EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary A. Gade. "This is a great fun opportunity for both children and adults to learn about how changing a light bulb can save energy and help the environment."

The first Chicago event, sponsored by EPA Region 5, will be Friday, Oct. 12, at Waters Elementary School, 4540 N. Campbell St., from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aimed at students and the community, it will feature a tour of the bus's educational center. The focus will be on innovative ways the school's conservation club and other students are helping fight climate change through reduced energy use as well as the school's various environmental projects.

The second event, called "Hallowgreen", will be Saturday, Oct. 13, in Gateway Park, Navy Pier, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will feature costumed characters, a 12-foot high inflatable compact fluorescent light bulb, die-cut Halloween masks for children, a micro-website, temporary tattoos, and table tents promoting the event at surrounding restaurants. The bus will be within a short walking distance from both "Ghostly Gardens" and the Chicago Children's Museum.

The bus is a state-of-the-art motor coach featuring a 2007 EPA model clean diesel engine powered by ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. The engine is fitted with a particulate scrubber, which means it does not allow particulate matter or nitrogen oxide to escape from the tailpipe. The bus is a reminder that we can reduce impact on the climate by taking public transportation when possible.

Inside is an interactive education center designed to demonstrate how important lighting choices are as a first step toward saving energy and helping fight global climate change. Visitors will experience first-hand the wide variety of Energy Star qualified light bulbs and fixtures available today, learn how to choose the right light for the right place in their home, and discover how and where to dispose of compact fluorescent lighting at end-of-life.

If every U.S. household changed just one light bulb or fixture to an Energy Star bulb, each year our country would save $600 million in energy costs, enough energy to light 3 million homes, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from more than 800,000 cars. Lighting counts for about 20 percent of a home's electricity use. Energy Star qualified light bulbs and fixtures use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent lighting, with bulbs that last six to ten times longer. One Energy Star qualified bulb can save about $30 or more in energy costs over its lifetime.

Energy Star is an EPA and U.S. Department of Energy program. More information is at http://www.energystar.gov/changealight.