On The Road
October 8, 2009
Sechelt woman saves 39% with Team Power Smart!
Posted by Hannah Monteith
Where: One of a Kind, Vancouver
I was at the One of Kind Show & Sale in Vancouver on October 8th, manning the Power Smart booth. Our day was such that we were really able to focus on meaningful, customer interactions. Everyone was impressed with our big lighting display. Some people just wanted to look at the display while others were willing to get involved and test their knowledge. The particular person who stands out to me that day knew all there was to know about the compact fluorescent lamps because she had changed every light in her house!
Her family was from Sechelt, where the mother (the woman I spoke with) is a part-time teacher and artist. As an artist, she was also a vendor at the One of a Kind craft show. Her young son accompanied her to the show and was excited to talk about the changes the family had made to their home to help conserve energy.
What started the interaction was not a boast on how much the family had saved but a question: “What else can I do to save energy?” My response was the usual response of, “What do you already do to save energy?” That’s when she hit me with the big number - this small Sechelt family had reduced their energy consumption by 39 per cent last year!
This woman and her son were excited about saving 39 per cent of their energy consumption, but wanted to know what else they could do. After exhausting my list of suggestions I was stumped. They had changed all their lights to CFLs, they had plugged everything into power bars, the heaters were set to turn down and while the family was not there, and they had a solar-powered water heater. This family had seriously dedicated themselves to saving energy and went above and beyond the expected.
We decided that there had to be another way to save energy so we asked my teammates - nothing. I wrote down the booth number where I could find her and kept my ears open all day for an alternative. If we couldn’t think of anything, she could always check out BC Hydro’s website.
Back to the original conversation; once we talked over what else this family could do, she got down to her real reason for coming to talk to us. She was so passionate about saving energy that she taught the children at her school about conservation. She really wanted our team to come up to Sechelt and educate the children how they could help save the environment and reduce their energy consumption in their homes and schools.
I was blown away at this woman’s dedication to her job, the children she taught, her family, the environment, and conservation. She was passionate and so interested in talking to me about what else she could do and how she could educate the children she taught about energy conservation. This woman was an inspiring person to talk to and I have used her story as an example of what one family can do!
So, next time someone tells you it is difficult to reduce energy consumption, or that they don’t think they can do anymore around their house to save, tell them about this wonderful family.
Hannah Monteith is a Community Outreach representative based out of Burnaby and will be at community events throughout the fall.
