Saratoga News
News
Go ahead, deck the halls with boughs of holly, but the lights should be LED
By Judy Peterson
With the holidays just around the corner, many shop windows are already decked out for the season. And now, besides thinking about gifts and baking and parties, the West Valley Green Leaf Committee is challenging residents to convert their old holiday lights to LED lights.
The group has even launched a contest among Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno to see which community can achieve the highest percentage of conversions.
Here's how it works: People who buy LED lights go to www.westvalleygreenleaf.com and click on "LED Holiday Light Contest 2007." Then click on the radio button for your town or city and your "vote" is tabulated. There is not a prize for the community with the most conversions; the organizers say it is simply a matter of civic pride.
Since the number of eligible homes in each community varies significantly, the contest results will be tabulated by percentages. Los Gatos has 11,306 eligible homes, while Monte Sereno has 1,236 and Saratoga has 10,330.
The committee says LED holiday lights use one-tenth the electricity of standard mini lights. They recommend taking old lights to an e-waste recycler such as Goodwill.
The committee has also given away nearly 200 compact fluorescent light bulbs at the Los Gatos Farmers Market. Marc Jensen of Los Gatos wants to expand the program. "We think we can get more bulbs at 25 cents apiece and then hand them out at the Los Gatos and Saratoga farmers markets," he said.
Jensen now has the funds to buy more bulbs. At the group's second meeting last week, PG&E presented the committee with a check for $2,500.
In order to push its "Go Green" message out to the public, the committee has set up subgroups that will develop and implement strategies.
Bobbie Snyder of Monte Sereno is on the education subcommittee. "I like the idea of competition with the cities," she said. "How about competition with the schools? I talked to a friend who said the schools do no recycling."
In addition to schools, the education group members will also be responsible for outreach to residents and businesses.
The committee recognizes there will likely be some overlap of ideas and, subsequently, a shakeout period as the organization takes shape. But the 40-odd members who attended last week's meeting are eager to move ahead. For example, the green leadership subcommittee wants to establish a speakers series.
"There can also be a collaboration between all the different faith organizations," said Connie Springer of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Los Gatos. "All the art associations and health-related organizations should be engaged."
While the vice mayors of the three communities--Barbara Spector of Los Gatos, Ann Waltonsmith of Saratoga and Erin Garner of Monte Sereno--are helping the committee get started, they all expressed a desire to see the group working on its own as an entrepreneurial enterprise.
"The thought would be that we would transition out of being the leadership group," said Spector. "In a way, for me, this is a social experiment because what I would like to do is for me and Ann and Erin to become invisible."
Jensen further encouraged the group, saying, "I may stand on a soap box a little bit. But if you want to do something, grab it. If you really like something, take it and run with it."
The next meeting of the West Valley Green Leaf Committee is Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Los Gatos Community Center.
