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Oct 22, 2006

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." --Alan Cohen

Need A Lightbulb? Change the World.

Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world. Soon. It is an ordinary item that cuts to the heart of some of our world's most profound and urgent problems: Energy consumption. Global warming. Dependence on oil. The product is the compact fluorescent light bulb, a quirky-looking twist of frosted glass called a "CFL," or an "energy saver." Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% less electricity. So if all American households replaced just one 60-watt bulb with a CFL, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people! That's the law of large numbers -- a small action, multiplied by 110 million. And a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.