Mr. Luna's Bright Idea!

The Great Copy Machine Epidemic (TM) of 2008

2008-03-20T08:20:00.004-04:00

While this blog has, until recently been devoted to Mr. Luna's Bright Idea!, a project to give one CFL to every child in America to help stop global warming, we have moved on to our next project, "The Great Copy Machine Epidemic (TM) of 2008.

Based on the fact that school photocopiers have caught a contagious disease, we've teamed up with the Go Green Initiative to create a national day of action in schools to stop global warming on April 17th, 2008.

You can access that project and get involved by heading to http://www.greatcopyepidemic.com/.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mr. Luna

Setting a Course for Change

2007-03-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

The morning the recent IPCC report was released my students and I were discussing its relevance in class. It just so happened a reporter from Newsday who had heard about our campaign was sitting in the back of the room...

The Campaign Rolls On with PBS...

2006-11-10T21:44:00.000-05:00

Click here to see the piece about "Mr. Luna's Bright Idea!" that's airing on PBS in Illinois and 5 other states in the midwest as part of an alternative news show called "AltNews 26:46". We want to say thank you to the producers and video personnel who came all the way to Long Island just to see what's going on with "The Bright Idea!". If you are interested in taking part in our campaign feel free to reach out to me at "thebrightidea(at)gmail(dot)com" to help stop global warming! -Mr. L

Summing Up How it Started...

2006-10-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

Here's the newspaper article that I think does the best job of summing up how our campaign got started here in North Babylon.... Enjoy! -Mr. L

Another School Steps Up!

2006-06-21T16:34:00.000-04:00

We've got another school joining the campaign, and that's Needwood Middle School in Brunswick, Georgia! Mr. Raczynski's 6th grade earth science classes have all written letters to Oprah, and their student environmental awareness club managed to get 35 bulbs donated so that each student could have one to plug in this summer. They intend to fundraise in a big way this fall!!!! Congratulations, and we can't wait to hear from more schools who are ready to join the campaign! If you care about fighting global warming and can help in some way then feel free to reach out to me, Mr. Luna at thebrightidea (at) gmail (dot) com because we've got to educate everyone in America about this grave threat and how we can stop it! -Mr. L

Hastings High School Joins the Campaign!

2006-05-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to say that the students of the environmental club at Hastings High School in Westchester, NY began fundraising for "The Bright Idea" this past Saturday. Their goal? To be able to purchase one CFL for every student in their school! I think that if we're going to stop global warming it's going to be by educating people, and doing something physical about it at the same time... and the "Bright Idea" does both of those things. I'm looking forward to the positive difference we will make together in Hastings as we work to stop global warming!

Ask Your School to Join the Campaign!!!

2006-05-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

It's now up to schools across the country to stand up with us in the fight against global warming, and carry on "The Bright Idea". We're asking every school out there to join our campaign. You can easily accomplish this by emailing me, Mr. Luna (Kenny) at thebrightidea (at) gmail (dot) com. We can't wait to hear from you!!!

The Earth Balloon

2006-05-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

My students and I would like to say "thank you" to Panera for being so incredibly generous and donating the money to "Mr. Luna's Bright Idea" for the purpose of bringing the earth balloon to North Babylon. We had a great time, and learned a tremendous amount about humans impact on the environment. -Mr. L

What it's all about...

2006-04-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

Kids with light bulbs, to fight global warming... Each one a step in the right direction! -Mr. L

"Magic Mark" finishes...

2006-04-23T21:15:00.000-04:00

And the old light bulb is history!

"Magic Mark" eating the light bulb

2006-04-23T21:13:00.000-04:00

He holds it up.

He crunches it with a hammer on the floor.

He unfolds the napkin-- just look at those faces behind him!
The show continues....

More Photos from our Lighting Ceremony

2006-04-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

Mr. Pescatore and Mr. Scollo on the guitars, with Mr. Murphy jamming on drums!
Is that elvis or Mr. Masullo??
Handing out light bulbs to help stop global warming!
Just having a good time!

Photos from our Lighting Ceremony

2006-04-23T17:53:00.000-04:00

Some of the awesome banners the elementary kids so generously made!

Our magician "Magic Mark" prepares to demolish an old light bulb so he can eat it!!

Just after the first CFL is lit, "The Bright Idea" kicks off across the country!
Three of our volunteers who so generously donated their time!

2006-04-23T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the photos from our press conference, we hope you enjoy them! -Mr. L

Some of our signs-

A close up of one of our signs-

Kenny Gould at the microphone-

Earth Balloon and The Bright Idea

2006-04-17T19:04:00.000-04:00

Recently Panera Bread has generously agreed to donate almost $3000 to The Bright Idea so that every student in the 8th grade at the Robert Moses Middle School can be exposed to the "earth balloon", which is a 19 ft. tall inflatable model of the earth, which makes it easy to see how humans are impacting the environment with global warming. My students and I are looking forward to this event, and think it's great that another corporation is choosing to get involved with "the bright idea!"
-Mr. L

Mr. Luna's Light Bulb Bonanza!

2006-04-02T18:45:00.000-04:00

I just want to say thank you to all of the people who came out on Thursday evening to pick up their light bulbs, and help fight global warming. The turnout was tremendous, and it looks like we were able to give out somewhere close to 3000 light bulbs. I have pictures which will be posted, but I think that all of the people from every age group who literally came streaming into the gym spoke volumes by their presence that night. We do care about our environment, and we do care about our kids future! I appreciate all of the help given by the students, teachers, parents, PTA, Administrators, Central Office, and the Board of Education. Without your help the night could never have been the success that it was:) -Mr. L

The Virtual March!!

2006-03-31T13:01:00.000-05:00

We are now featured on the home page of the "Virtual March to Stop Global Warming!" Check us out!!:) -Mr. L

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default2.asp

Check these out!!

2006-03-31T12:59:00.000-05:00

Hey folks, here's a link to some photos from our charity basketball game and practice for our press conference. Enjoy!!:) -Mr. L

http://www.nbsd.org/Schools/RMMS%20WEB/moseshappenings/Luna/brightidea.htm

Calling All Schools!!

2006-03-24T23:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody, I am pleased to report that my students and I have now joined the "Virtual March to Stop Global Warming!" as a class. We are the first class in the nation to do so, and we are asking every school across the country to join us by clicking on the link below and adding their name to the list of people who care about our children's futures. -Mr. L

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/partners/?474838

OPRAH'S PEOPLE AGREE TO SEE HOW THEY CAN HELP!!

2006-03-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the efforts of news anchor Sandra Bookman and the people of ABC EYEWITNESS NEWS, Oprah's people have agreed to consider our idea!!! They said they can't promise anything, but would like to see how they can help!!! Thank you so much to everyone who is helping make this dream a reality!!!!! -Mr. L

THANK YOU HOME DEPOT!!!!!!!!!!

2006-03-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

Home Depot has agreed to actually GIVE us the 5500 cfl bulbs we will need to give every child in North Babylon one of them. This will save the people of NB over $500,000 in electric costs, and most importantly help fight global warming!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again to George and Felix at the Deer Park Home Depot, who made our dream a reality in NB!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

2006-03-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

I just want to say thank you to all of my students who participated in the press conference! you did a really great job!!!!! We're working to make a difference in our future, and there is nothing more noble than that. -Mr L

We'll be on ABC News, (Channel 7) at 5pm right after oprah!
We'll be in Newsday tomorrow!
We'll be featured on CBS radio 880 tomorrow morning on a recurring schedule!
We'll be featured in an upcoming issue of the New York Teacher magazine that goes out across the state!

Again, congratulations to all of my students, and come on Oprah!!!

Our press release

2006-03-15T13:34:00.000-05:00

Feel free to follow the link below to our press release, issued with Citizens Campaign for the Environment, who are a tremendously positive group of people working with grassroots efforts to protect our children's future!

www.citizenscampaign.org/media/pr_031506.htm

Our Press Conference

2006-03-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

Hi folks! I just thought I'd fill you in that my students and I will be hosting a press conference at the Robert Moses Middle School in North Babylon on March 15th at 11:30 am to help kick-off our project to fight global warming the day before our charity basketball game! We already have a significant amount of press who will be attending this event- but should you or anyone you know be able to assist us in this matter, feel free to help! We've never heard of any other students and their teacher doing this, and expect our press conference to be a memorable event! thanks- Mr. L

STAND UP!!!!!

2006-02-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

By now I think that many people have heard that "The Bright Idea" is the result of an "Oprah" show where Oprah, Leo Dicaprio, and Dr. Michael Oppenheimer asked people to go out and buy these bulbs! However, what many people are also unaware of is that it was directly inspired by a Dave Matthews Band concert on December 10th at MSG, where they played the song "STAND UP!" off of their latest album. In fact, that song is what kept me awake all weekend until I came up with "The Bright Idea" on a Monday morning while sitting at my desk during my 5th period class watching my kids do a worksheet. I was sitting there thinking about their future with global warming, and playing around with the idea of giving every kid in my class one bulb until it just hit me- almost like a Eureka moment!! Well, my students and I are doing our part, and we are STANDING UP! together in the fight against global warming. We ask every single person who comes to this blog, and who cares about their childrens' future to join us, and STAND UP! by emailing Oprah to help give every child in America one of these bulbs!!!

An Update!

2006-02-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

We will be hosting a charity basketball game on March 16th in North Babylon to raise the funds to purchase one CFL for every child in North Babylon. This will help fight global warming, and save over $500,000.00 in electric costs for their parents!

2005-12-30T10:49:00.000-05:00

"Mr. Luna"

Here's how you can help!!!!!

2005-12-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

Folks- here is the suggested letter to send Oprah!!! Copy and paste it into her "show ideas" email page on Oprah.com. (Incidentally, the $2.3 BILLION figure is based on 50 million kids/bulbs X $46 in electricity costs saved per bulb.)

1. Click on my link to "Oprah's Email!"
2. Copy and Paste the suggested email.
3. Fill in your name, etc..., and send it. Once her email accepts it, you will see a screen that says "Thank You..." I'm asking you to send this in honor of someone you care about, and asking you to mention them by name in your email so that she can connect your concerns with a real person who has a real future on this planet.
4. If you or someone you know is interested in helping in any way with this national event, please leave me a comment on this site- or email me at thebrightidea@gmail.com!

(If her email link does not appear on the right hand side of this page, then please just do the following).
1. Click on the title of this blog "Mr. Luna's Bright Idea" which will take you to my home page, where it does appear!:) Thanks-

Dear Oprah, I've heard about "Mr. Luna's Bright Idea" to give one Compact Fluorescent bulb (CFL) to every child in America. I've heard how this idea will save us billions of dollars in electric costs, and help stop global warming!!! I also believe his plan will help us to move this nation towards an environmentally sustainable future for ourselves and our children, so please help him and his students to help make the world a better place!!!

5. Now please send this to every person who you can think of that might be able to help us !

Thanks so much for your support, your efforts are truly priceless. Together we can make the world a better place in which to live. --Mr. L