Lining up at the cheque presentation (from left) were By Kath Gannaway
PAY-DAY came on Sunday for hard-working CFA volunteers involved in the Ban The Bulb campaign.
Brigade members from the Upper Yarra, Mooroolbark and Mt Evelyn brigades took on the job of installing free energy-efficient light bulbs as part of a program run by local community bank branches to replace incandescent light bulbs.
Community bank branches at Woori Yallock, Warburton, Wandin Seville, Yarra Junction, Mt Evelyn and Mooroolbark, in partnership with environmental services company Low Energy Supplies and Services (LESS), have run the campaign for the past three months.
Brigades were paid $2 per globe in a fund-raiser that was hailed from the beginning as a win-win for residents, the environment and the brigades.
The campaign was expected to reduce the greenhouse gasses emitted by local residents by 50,000 tonnes as a result of exchanging 50,000 light bulbs.
That saving was comparable, it was claimed, to taking 12,000 cars off the road for a year. The pay off for residents was the free bulbs and the ongoing benefits of reduced energy bills.
On Sunday brigade members celebrated with Community Bank and LESS representatives as the money was handed out. Andrew Webber, deputy group officer with Yarra Group, said volunteers put in an estimated 1300 man hours which was time spent over and above their normal CFA activities.
The Yarra Valley brigades received $64,000 which will go towards purchasing a forward control vehicle for the group.
Mt Evelyn received $17,000 and will put that money towards a slip-on vehicle, while Mooroolbark firefighters will spend their $27,000 hard-earned cash on improvements to their station.
A further ‘dividend’ of around $12,000 is expected to flow to the brigades when the final bulb tallies are completed. Mr Webber said the collaboration of brigades, local community banks and LESS had been a success.
