Seeing the Light

Many of us wonder what practical, every day things we can do to help the environment, particularly when going green can sometimes seem overwhelming at times. Switching your light bulbs to CFLs is something you can do right way that will make a significant different down the line. The New York Times reported yesterday that according to the new energy bill signed this week, by 2012 stores can no longer sell the cheap, incandescent light bulbs most of us are used to buying and using in our homes. Though compact fluorescents cost 6 times as much as incandescents, they last 6 times longer and use far less energy. Use of the compact fluorescents, however, is nothing new. The EPA's Energy Star program has been pushing compact fluorescents for 9 years, and other new technologies are on the way, including LED's, which are extremely energy efficient but have not yet been incorporated in the home due to the expense and other factors. A few interesting facts:
*CFLs typically have a life span of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a life span of 750 hours or 1000 hours.
*A CFL can save over US$30 in electricity costs over the lamp’s lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp and save 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases.
That's equivalent to the emissions of over 800,000 cars.
*Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants. Saving electricity reduces CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide and high-level nuclear waste.
Make the switch, and feel good about taking that first step in greening your home...