How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World?

[Rosco T.]

LONG article and worth the read... Wal-Mart doing something right?

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

How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It.

Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world. Soon. It is a fairly ordinary item that nonetheless cuts to the heart of a half-dozen of the most profound, most urgent problems we face. Energy consumption. Rising gasoline costs and electric bills. Greenhouse-gas emissions. Dependence on coal and foreign oil. Global warming.

(snip)

What that means is that 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. That's the law of large numbers--a small action, multiplied by 110 million.

(snip)

In the next 12 months, starting with a major push this month, Wal-Mart wants to sell every one of its regular customers--100 million in all--one swirl bulb. In the process, Wal-Mart wants to change energy consumption in the United States, and energy consciousness, too. It also aims to change its own reputation, to use swirls to make clear how seriously Wal-Mart takes its new positioning as an environmental activist.

(snip)

Last year, conversations started in Wal-Mart around the potential of swirls to save customers money on utility bills. "Somebody asked, 'What difference would it make if we changed the bulbs in the ceiling-fan display to CFLs?'" says Kerby. A typical Wal-Mart has 10 models of ceiling fans on display, each with four bulbs. Forty bulbs per store, 3,230 stores. "Someone went off and did the math," says Kerby. "They told me we could save $6 million in electric bills by changing the incandescents to CFLs in more than 3,000 Wal-Marts. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know I was paying $6 million to light those fixtures. I said, that can't be right, go back and do the math again." The numbers came out the same the second time: savings of $6 million a year. "That, for me, was an 'I got it' moment."

(snip)

An even more dramatic push is coming this month, when Wal-Mart will roll out a lightbulb education center in every U.S. store. The display, developed with GE, shows 10 categories of lightbulbs, organized by room through a typical home, with a box showing the CFL appropriate in that area, the equivalent incandescent, and the energy savings a customer can reap from switching. Each category features a warm lifestyle photo of the room in question. Each box is color-coded to match color-coding on the shelves of CFL bulbs.

(much, much more)

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. not me.

Made in the U.S.A?
Despite a well-publicized "Made in the U.S.A." campaign, 85 percent of the stores' items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops. In fact, only after Wal-Mart's "Buy American" ad campaign was in full swing did the company become the country's largest importer of Chinese goods in any industry. By taking its orders abroad, Wal-Mart has forced many U.S. manufacturers out of business. The chain was broadly criticized for being the primary distributor of many goods attracting controversy, including Kathie Lee Gifford's clothing line, Disney's Haitian-made pajamas, child-produced clothing from Bangladesh and sweatshop-produced toys and sports gear from Asia. Difficult working conditions also exist in the United States: In 1991, labor inspectors found labels for Wal-Mart brands being made in Manhattan's Chinatown. There, 16 and 17 year-old Chinese immigrants without permits had been working for one month without being paid.

[LostinVA]

11. Ignore the poster

Check his other posts -- Cindy Sheehan had a lobotomy, etc.

[skids]

13. Yeah seems we have a fresh incoming batch. n/t

[LostinVA]

16. Must be a slow night at Bob Jones U or something

They need to go read The Gospels.

[gully]

20. Indeed I do smell "something."

It's not a pleasant aroma.

[skids]

21. What, the smell of freshly carved granite?

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

25. The poster wasn't even a GOOD TROLL

A measly five or six very obvious posts. And, I caught 'em on a Tuesday evening. Tsk tsk. They have to do better than that!

[gully]

26. That MUST be it!

;)

[LostinVA]

10. Hasn't Liberty College started classes already?

You should be studying --

[skids]

12. Nah, methinks COSTCO.

COSTCO charges up its first solar warehouse:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=61549&mesg_id=61549

[TheFarseer]

2. I replaced all my bulbs

and I got an energy saving flat screen monitor instead of that big-ass box thing. I'm eager to see if it will affect my energy bill.

[jmowreader]

4. They're four dollars apiece

If 100 million customers each buy one $4 light bulb...and then they take them home, use them, like them and go back for four or five more $4 light bulbs...you're looking at $2.4 billion just from one product category if everyone buys six bulbs.

Not even Wal-Mart is big enough to ignore a couple billion sitting on the table.

Trust me on this: while this is truly a noble effort, if these bulbs cost 50 cents apiece like regular incandescents do, they'd be on a shelf in hardware and you wouldn't hear a thing about them.

[WePurrsevere]

5. We changed over to CFLs over a decade ago & haven't looked back.

We have a few lights that are not yet CFLs because one needs a dimmable (which they now have available but are pricey still and hard to find except online.) the others use very small special bulbs but we've found out that we can now get those as CFLs as well and possibly even LEDs very soon.

This house we moved into has old florescent light fixures that we'll be changing over to the newer types with less "noise" and we're now slowly changing some of our regular CFLs to the full spectrum bulbs (also CFLs) in our regular living spaces to help combat the "Winter blues" (aka: SAD).

We know our power bill is lower, we're causing less pollution and these bulbs normally last a long time so they're worth the little bit more we have paid for them.

As for Walmarts... they're a business and out to make money... this makes them money and is good PR to boot... although there are things I'd like to see them change I'm glad they're doing this no matter what the reason... they can reach a whole lot of people and get the word out about CFLs which is a good thing for everyone and Mother Earth.

[gully]

6. These bulbs do contain mercury so disposal is a consideration.

Just a note from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury. The amount is not large enough to pose a hazard to users, but it does become a concern at landfills and trash incinerators where the mercury from many bulbs can escape and contribute to air and water pollution.

Safe disposal requires storing the bulbs unbroken until they can be processed. Consumers should seek advice from local authorities. Usually, one can either:

* Bring back used CFLs to where they were purchased, so the store can recycle them correctly; or
* Bring used CFLs to a local recycling facility.

The first step of processing involves crushing the bulbs in a machine that uses negative pressure ventilation and a mercury-absorbing filter or cold trap to contain and treat the contaminated gases. Many municipalities are purchasing such machines. The crushed glass and metal is stored in drums, ready for shipping to recycling factories.

Note that coal power plants are the single largest source of mercury emissions into the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (when coal power is used) the mercury released from powering an incandescent bulb for five years exceeds the sum of the mercury released by powering a comparably luminous CFL for the same period and the mercury contained in the lamp.

Still a good choice, I buy em when I sees em'.

[Mika]

7. The Cuban gov has a lightbulb replacement program.

The government is replacing, and will replace every standard bulb with a fluorescent in Cuba at no charge. This is to reduce the need of more oil consumption for electricity, and thereby represents a savings for their highly subsidized electricity system. Plus, Cuba is creating an extensive local area solar power infrastructure, starting with schools, libraries, and computer kiosks.

The FL bulb program was started in early 2005. The solar program was started several years ago.

[TheFarseer]

9. Cuba is not as stupid as we want them to be

I wonder what that country would look like if we had normal relations with them.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

8. I have those bulbs! And I didn't have to get them at Walmart!

I got them from some local store, can't even remember now.

[skids]

14. In case you were wondering...

...how far we have left to go to kill the incandescent lightbulb, everything you want to know and more is in this (2.6Megabyte) PDF:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/documents/pdfs/cfl_lessons_learned_web.pdf

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

15. I Gotta Say, That's A Great Campaign And Marketing Concept.

More importantly, regardless of who the message is from, it is raising people's awareness to using CFL's and I think this campaign will definitely have some impact.

Great idea, whoever came up with it.

[The Jacobin]

17. CFL Bulbs + Wind Provider

I originally bought the bulbs to reduce the heat in the summer (A/C is the biggest energy expense here in Texas). They are great.

I also switched to an all-wind provider a couple of years ago and have all electric lawn tools.

[AnnieBW]

18. I use CFs

wherever I can. We even found that Ikea sells CFs in those little candelabra-sized bulbs, and bought a supply of them. About the only place we're not using CFs is where the ballasts won't fit, or on the lights over the sinks - because they haven't burned out yet.

Oh, one question, though... Can you use CFs in a garage where there's a variable temperature? I'd love to use them for our garage lighting, but my husband is afraid that they'll explode if they get too cold.

[Canuckistanian]

19. I use CF's up here in the frozen north

And no, they don't freeze and explode, even in -30 degree weather.

The older ones won't turn on properly when it's that cold and they take a little longer to reach full brightness.

I've used them since 2000 and my large house has only 3 incandescent bulbs for various reasons.

[skids]

22. Cold, no -- they don't like heat...

...but we have CF porch lights up here in MA and they are working dandy.

Where you want to avoid using them is in enclosures that don't let them breath, and most importantly wash your hands first or use a glove -- don't get finger grease on them. Humidity (like over-the-stove, not just outdoor) might be good to avoid as well.

[petronius]

27. Why can't they be used in enclosures?

I suppose that means that glass-bowl type ceiling fixtures are out?

[skids]

28. Depends on the enclosure.

So long as there is a path for hot air to leave from the top and cool air to get into the edge or bottom, they should be fine. We use them with the not-attached-to-the-ceiling glass plate "enclosures" all the time with no problems.

[Jack_DeLeon]

23. Thats awesome news...

I've switched most of our bulbs to CFLs a while back, definately liking the energy savings.

[unhappycamper]

24. Costco had a special on 6 and 8 packs of CFL bulbs last month.

IIRC, they were about $3.00 for a six-pack of 23/100w or an eight-pack of the 13/65w. Dunno if that sale is still going.