A Bright Idea

An 8th grade teacher in New York (Kenny Luna) came up with an idea to save millions in energy costs and CO2 emissions: give every student in America one compact fluorescent light (CFL).

To fund the project he is enlisting the help of the masses in petitioning Oprah (of course) for support. According to his calculations the effect would be $2.3 billion in energy savings. Pretty impressive.

CFLs do contain some mercury, but it's been calculated that the amount of mercury added to the atmosphere needed to power a traditional incandescent bulb (assuming coal-burning electricity plants) is higher than what is required for a CFL, and the mercury in CFLs can be recovered if they are recycled.

I have several CFLs in my small apartment (I only have 7 light fixtures), and even though I didn't have high electric bills before there was a noticeable difference after I put in the CFLs. It's been nearly a year and none have burned out yet.