MAY 2022
Culture
54 ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST NONPROFITS
IN
G R E E N L I G H TS
NEW ORLEANS
SMALL STEPS, BIG CHANGE
Light Bulb Ideas
GREEN LIGHT NEW ORLEANS FOSTERS SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS IN CRESCENT CITY COMMUNITIES Story by Samantha Eroche • Photos by Alexandra Kennon
Andreas Hoffman founded Green Light New Orleans in 2007 as a means to help rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans in a meaningful, sustainable way.
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n a recent Saturday morning, I arrived at Green Light New Orleans (GLNO) on Jeannette Street, dressed for a day of work with a bag of essentials: water, 54
sunscreen, snacks. As I walked up to the front porch, a large group of Phi Alpha Delta fraternity students from Tulane were already gathered there to volunteer as well. We introduced ourselves and chatted while we waited to
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start our work, talking about our favorite snowball and Creole Creamery ice cream flavors, and how Green Light was across from where “the streetcars go to sleep,” which drew a collective “aww.” The sun was warm and the wind
blustery, a perfect fifty-five-degree kind of day to be outside. We soon met Jillian Welsh, Green Light’s volunteer coordinator. Bubbly, energetic, and covered in paint from projects past, she spoke to us about the organization’s history, goals, and impact. Green Light had its humble beginnings in 2007, with founder and executive director Andreas Hoffmann—then a touring musician—who sought out ways to rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans in a meaningful, sustainable way. That’s when he had what he describes as a “light bulb” idea: raise money to purchase CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps, which use gas reactions rather than sheer electricity to produce light, reducing gas emissions) and install them in as many homes as possible to cut down on energy consumption and reduce the city’s carbon footprint. In the process, his band B-Goes became carbon-neutral. “Here we believe that one action repeated over and over again is going to lead to the greater good,” Welsh said. “So, one lightbulb in the beginning saved a little bit of energy. And that didn’t make a big difference, but once we’ve done 28,000 homes, that’s a significant amount of carbon footprint decreased and money saved. You’ve gotta start somewhere.” While Green Light no longer sends volunteers into homes to install light bulbs, residents can still apply to pick up free light bulbs and install them in their own homes through the program. Some participants even request to pick up light bulbs to replace the ones Green Light initially installed years ago. Later, in 2012, GLNO established its backyard vegetable garden program, which allows residents to apply for a free raised garden bed to grow food in their own backyard. Hoffmann noted,
