As an greenster you might assume that I’m a fan of compact fluorecent lightbulbs, but as I’ve been saying for years those lightbulbs contain mercury, one of the most toxic substances ever discovered. What happens when you break one? Well, the government recommends that you open the doors and windows and evacuate the area for at least 15 minutes. So what happens when they end up in a landfill and trace amounts seep into underground water supplies? It may not seem like a big deal at first, but 670 million mercury-containing lamps are sold in the United States each year.
Even though it’s true that more mercury is emitted from burning coal (another reason to turn off the lights when you leave a room) there is a better choice; LED lightbulbs. Light Emitting Diodes have incredible life expectancies that can save residents and businesses substantial money on energy costs.
Here are some intriguing stats from ioslight.com:
Reduced Replacement costs – These lights are designed to operate for 50,000 hours. This is due to the technological advantages of using a LED instead of noxious gas and filaments. When using LED lighting you will notice the life expectancy of the bulbs is:
6 hours/day – 22.8 year lifetime
12 hours/day – 11.4 year lifetime
16 hours/day – 8.5 year lifetime
24 hours/day – 5.75 year lifetime
Less is more. Not only will you not have to buy light bulbs as often when you make the switch, LEDs match or surpass the performance of traditional bulbs with a fraction of the wattage. For example, a 75 Watt incandescent bulb could easily be substituted for an 15 Watt LED bulb.
Green light means GO! I’ve provided links for both residential and commercial use. At this point, the initial cost for residential use is higher than traditional incandecent bulbs, however, there are lots of good deals online for well priced LEDs.
Your workplace could save 80% on lighting costs. Here’s a $0 down plan that my friend, Leilani Munter (who’s an incredible, green, NASCAR race driver and activist), is involved with: http://www.leilanimunter.com/leds.htm
For residential options: http://www.besthomeledlighting.com/
For commercial and residential options:
http://ioslight.com/
http://www.greenandsave.com/news
Other things to think about. When you’re disposing of CFLs be sure to turn them in to your local Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site. If you’re reluctant to phase out interior bulbs with LEDs for any reason start with exterior floodlamps or lights for your garage, garden, workshop, or guesthouse. Here’s to cleaner, greener, money-saving lighting!
My mission: As a Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Eco Expert, I’m dedicated to leading you straight to the core of what it takes to enjoy a new level of vitality, weight loss, and detoxification. I love helping clients across the U.S. transform their lives.
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