YES, BUT WHY IS CHANGING LIGHT BULBS IMPORTANT?

Human activity is responsible for releasing many greenhouse gases into the environment.  While some of these gases are good for the environment, many are not and are directly related to climate change. Climate change, while usually called “global warming,” is actually any kind of distinct climate change that lasts for a long period of time. This includes changes in wind patterns, rainfall and snowfall. “Global warming” refers to the average increase in temperatures in the Earth’s surface and can be considered part of climate change. Increases in global temperatures will change our planet’s climate and have long-term effects on people and the environment.*

Most of you know that Green Light New Orleans’ mission is to invest in lowering greenhouse gas emissions by assisting residents in person, one household at a time by installing energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replacing incandescent light bulbs is one of the easiest ways people can lower their greenhouse gas emissions.

If every American replaced one incandescent light bulb with a light bulb that has the Energy Star rating, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes per year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year which is equal to the amount produced by 800,000 cars.** To put this number of vehicles in perspective, the Los Angeles County freeway system handles 12 million vehicles per day.

The Environmental Protection Agency website offers a tool to calculate your individual greenhouse gas emissions as well as other tips on how to reduce those emissions and how much you can save in dollars and emissions by taking certain actions.***
*EPA; http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basicinfo.html
**Energy Star
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=LB
***http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html