Be a Leader
Implement strategies to help your community save money with LED.
Reduce Consumption
Use up to 80% less electricity for lighting with LED conversion.
Make an Impact
Decrease your community’s waste and carbon footprint
CLICK HERE TO EARN THIS AWARD FOR BEING LED EFFICIENT!
PROJECT GALLERY
Save money – and save the planet!
LED Lighting Market Continued Growth ReportEstimated Apartment Savings with LED
We’ve identified projects and processes you can use to help portions of your community convert to LED. Together, we can help the world change.
Our story
Who is LED Brighter Communities?
LED Brighter Communities (LEDbc) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing youth and community leaders with project-based approaches to inspire municipal leaders, business owners, and residents to convert their lighting technology to LED.
LED Brighter Communities is based in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Cedar Falls is a dynamic midwestern community ready to switch to LED. The projects we are working on and the collective effort we are building here and in other areas will serve as models to assist even more communities in converting to LED. Connect with us on social media to learn more.
Our philosophy
Save $ and Save the Planet!
Filament-based incandescent light bulb technology is still used by most American households. Many simply have not made the effort to convert to LED or tried and had some difficulty. Selecting the right LED bulbs can be tricky.
While traditional light bulbs produce sufficient light, we need to remember that filament-based incandescent lighting:
• Was invented by Thomas Jefferson in 1898. IT’S SUPER OLD!
• Generates light with 10% of the energy it consumes, while the other 90% is used to produce excess heat. IT’S SUPER ENERGY INEFFICIENT!
• Requires 60%-80% more electricity than LED lighting to produce the same light. IT’S SUPER EXPENSIVE!
• Uses bulbs with a short life. IT’S INEFFECTIVE! LED bulbs can last 10-20 times longer.
Our mission is to help people convert from inefficient and expensive incandescent light bulb technology to LED. LED is like a magic vehicle that uses only drops of gas, costs the user very little, and does much less harm to the planet. Who wouldn’t want to use it?
LED Project Ideas
LED Brighter Communities is a 501(c)3 dedicated to helping communities reduce electricity costs and energy consumption by providing students and caring community members with ideas and resources to help government, businesses, nonprofits, and households convert to LED.
We’ll help you lead. Check out these project ideas to learn more.
Help your favorite non-profit organization convert its facilities to LED
“College Student Apartment Complex” LED Program
“Help the Elderly” LED Program – Low-Income Complexes
“Help the Elderly” LED Program – Senior Housing Communities
Church LED Program
Convert Your Neighborhood or Subdivision
Business / Employee LED Program
Inspire Implementation of City-Wide Requirements for LED in Rental Properties
City-Wide, City-Specific Marketing & Communications Program
Testimonials
Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what participants have to say:
Participating in an LED Brighter Communities project helped me gain confidence in my abilities and helped me know I want to study marketing in college. It helped me understand that helping people, communicating, and making things happen is something I really like to do and what I want for my career.
Annalise Nehmer
Hudson, Iowa
We didn’t know anything about lighting, construction, or fundraising when we started, but now we do. Converting the ReStore’s lighting to LED gave us a way to help reduce our Habitat for Humanity ReStore’s expenses in a way that keeps on giving in the years ahead. For every dollar we raised in our GoFundMe campaign, Habitat will have $ 2.30 to spend on projects over the years, plus we helped reduce the store’s carbon footprint and utility consumption. With our new skills, we know how to raise money and make things happen, plus we have great experience we can share in our college/scholarship applications too. From our point of view, the project was a total win in many ways!
Will Lynch and Harrison Redfern
Cedar Falls, Iowa
The growth opportunity with this program is enormous. Not only are we making efforts to reduce our community footprint, we are providing teens and community leaders in the area with projects that boost awareness and understanding of the impacts of changing to LED. We are working to help as many businesses and residents as possible!
Emma De Jong
Cedar Falls, Iowa
WE’LL SHOW YOU HOW
LED Brighter Communities is dedicated to communicating the importance of converting household, business, and city lighting to LED. We’ll help you understand why converting to LED is important and provide ideas on how you can help.
It’s up to you.
Help Your Community
Save Money & Energy with LED Lighting
The History of LED Lighting
Take a few moments to understand the history of the light bulb in order to fully appreciate what LED offers today.
Filament-based light bulbs were invented over 100 years ago. If we changed automobile technology as slowly as light bulb technology has changed, most of us would still be riding horses.
LED technology reduces the consumption of electricity for light by up to 80%.
It’s time to change!
Our Team
Glynis Worthington
Co-Founder
Glynis has always placed a high level of importance on community service. In addition to her children earning Boy Scout Eagle and Girl Scout Gold Awards, she helped each of them to implement a community service project on their own during high school, one of which gained Presidential recognition. These experiences helped them become the strong individuals they are today and significantly contributed to their college scholarship and application portfolios. Glynis was crowned Mrs. Iowa 2020 and this is her legacy project.
Emma De Jong
Co-Founder
Emma is a 5th year senior at the University of Northern Iowa. She is currently receiving a dual degree in Interior Design and Business Management with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Certificate in Sustainability. For the past handful of years, she has been painting residential and commercial spaces in the Cedar Valley under her own company, De Jong Painting.
Emma is always looking for ways to get involved in her community and has a keen interest in creating healthy and sustainable environments for people.
Laura Dobson
Board Member
Laura came on board with LEDbc in 2021. She has a background in the sciences and has been working in the marketing and fund development fields for the past twelve years. She works with students at a private school as a co-coordinator for the school’s Leader in Me program and in other roles. With a colleague, she’ll be presenting a session on engaging students through service learning at a national convention in spring 2022. Laura is a past recipient of the Mayors’ Volunteer Award for her service to the community.
Hannah Brunko
Board Member
Hannah will be graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in May 2022 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design and a Certificate in Sustainability. She serves as the Northern Iowa Student Government Director of Sustainability.