Grandma Newman's Energy Saving Tips

Mom has never been shy. She's also always enjoyed contests. Put these together and you have a YouTube video featuring mom, her entry into a contest about saving electricity called Change a Little, Save a Lot.

Rather than being submitted to the power company (PPL is the sponsor of this contest) entries are posted online, which is actually pretty clever. The energy tips get shared with a wider audience, and the contest manager has less muss and fuss to deal with in regards to special handling of video entries. I can envision compatibility issues with in-house equipment. By uploading the three minute submissions to YouTube, compatibility becomes the problem of the contestant.

The contest is designed to help raise consciousness about the many small ways we can all contribute to reducing our carbon footprint. Whether that means much to you, there are some additional benefits of energy efficiency, including lower power bills. A few extra dollars in our pockets each month is pretty valuable. In this sense, everybody's a winner, though only one person will win the $5,000 Sears Gift Card.

Not everyone can enter though. You have to be a residential customer of PPL Electric in Pennsylvania. BUT, everyone can benefit from efforts made to change our energy habits a little.

Click here for additional contest details.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Meryl Streep was miffed that she failed to get the role of playing Brabara "Grandma" Newman in this big budget thriller.