Crushed in both form and spirit, the incandescent bulb was planted facedown on the makeshift ring in defeat, though the fight was devoid of broken glass in the arena roped off with caution tape. The compact fluorescent bulb stood victorious, lowering himself to his opponent’s level, clasping hands in mournful silence for his death.
On Nov. 4, audiences at Foothill College’s Campus Center cafeteria were witness to this personification of illuminating energy sources.
Foothill’s We Care Club and student-run organization Outhand.com teamed up with AmeriCorps’ and CALPRIG’s Energy Service Corps to put on a theatrical display to promote energy conservation.
During the event, criminology major Kevin Tran and business and economics major Joe Wu dressed up as light bulbs. Wu played the role of an Incandescent (round) bulb and Tran was the more “green” compact fluorescent bulb (wrapped in white coils).
Tran, the coiled bulb, sent his fists flying in his bubble wrap get-up, scoring a metaphorical victory for “going green.”
The fight was electric. The defeat of the incandescent bulb was meant to mirror the demise of energy inefficiency against technology today.
“The message here is that clean energy dominates dirty energy. You saw the CFL light bulb beat up the old school one,” said ESC campus event organizer and former De Anza student Bobby Flores. “We wanted an avenue to educate students even with a silly event like this.”
The event garnered 90 pledges from attendants to do simple things around the home to save energy.
The ESC, made up of student volunteers and community organizers under both AmeriCorps and CALPRIG, hoped to spread a message throughout the Foothill-De Anza community about the energy that is wasted on a daily basis.
“California’s energy consumption is expected to increase by at least 1.5 percent every year for the next 10 years,” said Foothill economics and psychology major Lily Tang.
“We know that by doing simple things, we can save people money and energy.”
According to Flores, a priority of the organization is to specifically target low-income families.
In order to do so, ESC runs home assessments in which volunteers pinpoint where energy can be saved, its impact reduced and owners’ wallets spared. They also wish to sync government programs to the recipients for whom they are intended.
“The amount of low-income families that had their energy shut off increased by eighteen percent this from last year in California alone,” Flores said. “There are a ton of programs that exist for these families, [but] they are only at 5 percent capacity.”
Student volunteers and organizers alike are working to extend the influence of the ESC to De Anza later this year by targeting politically active clubs like W.I.S.E 37 and Circle K.
The reach of the ESC will go beyond simple theatrics. The ESC holds educational workshops both on campuses and within the community at all ages. Statewide, Flores estimates that the Corps will reach over 30,000 people across each of the sixteen community college campuses in which they are active.
By actively addressing the nationalized issue of global warming, the ESC hopes to usher in positive change through campaigning, volunteering and caring about the community’s impact on the planet.
