My wife and I made a pledge earlier this year to only buy EnergyStar rated items. Our pledge mostly came from the realization that paying attention to how you spend your money can have a tremendous impact. There are a variety of companies and business practices that I don’t want to support. I usually don’t try and persuade others or play an activist role, I simply pay attention to where my dollars go.
As I watch companies continue to turn their heads and continuously purue cost savings, I’m hoping that the Longtail of consumerism can help save our planet and make it a world that future generations can enjoy. I’m not going complain about all of the bad things that are happening to the environment, but I am going to ask that you stop and think about putting your disposable income behind your beliefs. You don’t have to donate thousands of dollars every year to make a difference, you just neeed to look at where your money goes.
One simple example is the recent hype about using EnergyStar lightbulbs. It’s easy to justify the cost if you look at it from an economic-sense, but the value of reducing pollution (and helping everyone breathe better, and saving the beauty of West Virginia from mountain-top removal, and reducing carbon emissions, and so on) has a lasting impact. When a collective of individuals does this, the impact can be incredible.
So what can the impact of the lifetime of one light bulb be?
- Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 450lbs.
- The saving of 282 kWh of energy
- Removing the need for 200+ lbs. of coal
- A decrease in power (for the light bulb) of 66%
- Energy savings of around $30
If you asked me, that’s worth well over the $6 or $7 for a good lightbulb (not to mention they look a hell of a lot cooler).
If you’re interested in learning more, check out the campaign material for the Change a Light, Change the World Campaign.
