Finally, a New Year's Resolution You Can Keep

Looking for a meaningful New Year’s resolution that you can actually stick to and brag about at dinner parties? No, it’s not losing weight, cutting bangs or converting to Scientology. Those things are hard. This, dear friend, is a resolution that is easy to incorporate into your life and will work for you all year long (actually 7 years or more, but we’ll get to that…)

Switch all the light bulbs in your house to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs! It’s honestly sooooo easy and this one tiny life change will have HUGE effects and drastically help reduce your personal carbon emissions.

We know some of you may have heard about these “low energy” bulbs, but you never followed through. Maybe you didn’t realize what a difference they made, maybe you didn’t know where to start—-where do you get them, can they fit in your favorite lamp, are they expensive? Now you’ll have no excuse…

Quick Facts about compact fluorescent bulbs

• They use 1/3 the energy of average light bulbs! If you replaced just 3 of your bulbs for CFL’s, you’d save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. The more bulbs you replace, the more carbon emissions you reduce.

• They last about 10 times longer than an average bulb, approximately seven years. (An amazing thing if you’re like us and absolutely hate changing light bulbs all the time!)

• They produce 70% less heat than an average bulb, saving your need for air conditioning due to excess heat from you light bulbs.

• The come in all the same wattages as regular light bulbs and they fit in all your standard light sockets.

• The lights in our homes contribute 10%-20% of our overall energy costs. If you replace just 5 bulbs, you’ll save over $100 on electricity bills over the course of the year.

• You can find them in the grocery store, drug store and hardware store right next to the incandescent bulbs. EVEN BETTER, they sell them on Amazon, too. So you can click on the Amazon link on the sidebar RIGHT NOW and start your New Year’s Resolution today….

Choosing the Right Compact Florescent Light Bulbs
So, you need to teach yourself a new light bulb language with the Compact Florescent Bulbs (CFL’s). Since they use so much less energy to operate than incandescent bulbs, a 15 watts CFL puts out the same amount of light as a 6o watt traditional light bulb. Most boxes will say what the conversion is, but you can also look for the lumen rating (a lumen rating is the measure of light the bulb puts out,) on your old bulbs to find the compact fluorescent that gives the same amount of light.

Is this fluorescent light going to make me look fat?

No!! This is not the fluorescent light from your middle school bathroom or Nordstrom’s dressing rooms. These bulbs actually have a few different color temperatures for you to choose from. From “soft and cozy” to “daylight” you will find a bulb glow to fit your needs.

Size does Matter

There are tons of different kinds of Compact Florescent Bulbs in many shapes, sizes, wattages and colors to fit your every need, whether it’s a ceiling fan, your romantic dimmer lights, sconces or even outdoor flood lights. We found THE MOST HANDY GUIDE EVER to help you find the best energy efficient light bulbs for you and make sure you’re never caught in a patch of bad lighting again. (“I don't get it. Did my hair get flat? Did I stumble into some bad lighting? What's wrong with me?” Cher, Clueless)

Are they hard to find?

No. They are sold in all locations regular light bulbs are sold! Or order from Amazon.com if you’re the type that doesn’t like leaving the house. Also, price-wise they are pretty comparable to the incandescent bulbs…but if you do end up paying a few dollars more for them, you will more than make up for it in your electricity bills.

Your First Successful Resolution Ever.

If every U.S. household made a "5 light change", together we'd keep more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of our air--the equivalent to taking 8 million cars off the road for an entire year.

So, say it with us, “In 2007 I will replace all the light bulbs in my house with compact fluorescent bulbs.” Now get to it.