A little bit can make a big difference......

In the wake of legislation by Australia to phase out regular incandescent light bulbs, a couple big private companies in the US are leading the charge here in this country, trying to put pressure on the government to get out of the pockets of large industry lobbies and do something to encourage efforts to slow global warming and ensure that our children actually have land to live on and the world doesn't turn into one large lake!

A coalition led by Phillips, the countries largest lightbulb manufacturer, is recommending the phase our of regular incandescent bulbs by 2016. These light bulbs that we use everyday are huge wasters of electricity because they do not very efficiently convert it into light. In fact, think of it this way, if you can use it in your Easy Bake Oven to bake a cake, then then of all the energy that is wasted as heat in every single light bulb in every lamp or light in people's houses. Only 10% of it's energy is used for light. The rest is wasted.... Compact flourescent light bulbs, yes those funny spiral ones that you see in the stores that cost more than regular bulbs, use so much less energy. So while they may cost more up front, they will save you much more on you electricity bill later!


Also, WalMart, in support of these efforts, in conjunction with GE, another major US lightbulb manufacturer, has started a major push to support the use of CFLs and sell at least one of these light bulbs to each of it's 110 million customers over the next 12 months. And the impact of this effort would not be small......

"....if every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads." "How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It.," September 2006, Fast Company.

Not small stuff! So, next time you go to the store, consider getting one of those funny swirly lightbulbs and do something good for yourself and the world.

For more info see these articles....

http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM/story?id=2948686

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/108/open_lightbulbs.html