Pledge “green-lightbulbs”
"I will replace all the light bulbs in my house with low energy / long life bulbs but only if 20 other people will do the same."
— Andy Boura, concerned about the environment
Deadline to sign up by: 13th July 2005
30 people signed up (10 over target)
More details
There's a good variety of shapes and sizes now - they don't have to be expensive either.
This pledge has now closed; it was successful! You might be interested in these other pledges:
- give a percentage or more of the Canton Free TV project of $4000
- pledge 100USD
- vote for Hank Williams Jr. in the Primary Election
- to support my African American sisters and brothers businesses
See more pledges, and all about how PledgeBank works.
Things to do with this pledge
Current signatories (
= they've done it)
Andy Boura, the Pledge Creator, joined by:
- Simon Holledge
- Michael Cozens
- jonathan berger
- Catherine Wanless
- Robin Grant
- Rich Woods
- Craig Nicol
- A C Baker
- Ben Pridmore
- Pauline Yates
- Claudine
- Harry Catton
- Emma Lawrence
- Joanne Bush
- Donald Walker
- Richard Hardy
- Jane Hadlington
- Sally Gurney
- Paul Snookes
- Michel Allard
- Michael G. R.
- E Murphy
- Jay
- Willy Lee
- Susan
- MOHMED
- Susan Small
- Jonathan McElroy
- 2 people who did not want to give their names
Comments on this pledge
The rest of my abode is fair game, but I'm not risking my landlady's ire by rewiring my kitchen.
Incidentally, for anyone else who has a problem with bulbs with narrow screw-in fittings, greenshop.co.uk has energy-saving versions.
Thanks for the link, Looks like it's got the 40W-equivalent candle bulb I've been looking for for ages. Just need a cooker light now.
Ironically, compact fluorescent bulbs are responsible for less mercury contamination than the incandescent bulbs they replaced, even though incandescents don't contain any mercury. The highest source of mercury in America’s air and water results from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, at utilities that supply electricity. Since a compact fluorescent bulb uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts at least six times longer, it is responsible for far less mercury pollution in the long run. A coal-burning power plant will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a compact fluorescent.
REFERENCE: This is taken from the second article on this page which also contains some advice on disposal:
http://environment.about.com/library/wee...
Glad to see some more peopel signed up - keep on letting people know and let's see if we can't get way more than 20!
B & Q (http://www.diy.com) have quite a big selection of bulbs including some that look like conventional pearl ligh bulbs - altho a little bigger.
I bought one about 6 months ago for something like £6 :(
Andy B, that's a very interesting article, but with some confusing implications:
(a) If you have a provider of 'green' electricity, does it mean you're better sticking with conventional light bulbs? (and how green is green electricity anyway?)
(b) If 1/4 or less of your electricity comes from power stations run on fossil fuels, does it mean you're better sticking with conventional light bulbs?
I've replaced all the conventional light bulbs in my home for quite a while now! Why wait for a pledge to do it?
I am already slowly replacing my bulbs and the most comonly used rooms already have low energy ones.
I am not planning to be wasteful and throw away the spare non-low-energy ones I already have - though any new bulbs I buy will be low energy.
Does that count? :-p
a) I believe some green energy companies transfer their "coupons" for renewable energy to other energy providers so that the other providers can burn more coal etc. (can't recall the specifics) This would mean the only truly green energy was from companies that don't do this. I have been considering switching my supply tho. Some renewables also cause extensive envornmental damage...hydro plants release methane into the air from rotting vegatable matter - which is a nasty greenhouse gas, wind farms disrupt local wildlife, we don't have enough sunlight for effective solar plants. I guess it's all about balance. Perhaps nuclear which has been making a lot of progress in new reactor designs that are far safer and cleaner than older ones is the way forwards.
b) It would depend on the exact figures of pollutants and where they come from. Finding a safe and effective way of disposing of used low energy bulbs in the UK would make this a mute point - anyone know how / where you should dispose of them?
At my parents in Scotland the supplier is hydroelectric too. In fact, their energy saving bulbs were given them for free by the government?
Perhaps more info here:
http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/
Considering B is responsible for the environment and water for a county in FL, I should ask her about disposal of fluorescent bulbs.
Renewable energy is not completely free of environmental damage - wind turbines / hydroelectric dams / power lines still need to be built. The less of all of these, the better - they still use energy to build.
As an aside, I strongly encourage anybody who needs to leave their computer on for any period of time to turn on 'power management' in their power options. Modern PCs can be slowed down when they're not heavily used - they therefore use less power until you need it. Alternatively, use a 'small form factor' (physically small) PC or a laptop, which both use much less power than a desktop. For more information on power consumption, see my own house survey: http://www.willsmith.org/climatechange/d...
The info on your site's very interesting, Will. I'm just noticing that I need (a) a smaller PC and/or (b) to be less of a nethead. Power management, however, will be added.
http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/Co...
http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/...
jcm3777@hotmail.com if
Presumably, they are dealt with in a responsible manner, along with other waste such as NiCd batteries, lead, paints, poisons, etc.