Welcome to another episode of Change The World Wednesday! This week we're going to experiment with lighting and discover another way to cut back on our energy use. Here's the challenge:
In most homes there are multiple light bulbs used to light a single area. For example, bathrooms usually have a row of vanity lights ... ceiling fans often have three or more light bulbs ... and kitchens typically have quite a few lights (over the sink, over the table, over the center of the room, etc.). So, this week, twist off all but one bulb in each area and see if it works for you. If one bulb isn't enough light, twist on a second ... or a third. The idea, here, is to experiment a little, use only the amount of light that is truly necessary, and save a lot. So, twist them off!
OR ...
If you've already twisted off as many light bulbs as possible, then please write a post about all the easy ways that we can reduce our energy use.
I think this challenge will be enlightening.
Last week we focused on eliminating food waste. So ... how did you do? Let's see how our Honor Society did:
Waylandcook, from The Wayland Springs Cook, shared that food not eaten by her family gets "composted, fed to the dogs, or to the hogs and chickens".
Tito Dutta, of Songs and Poetries, offered support and kind words.
EcoGrrl from EcoGrrl Speaks stopped by with some great suggestions.
Mrs. Green wrote a wonderful article about how NOT to waste food. Read her article HERE.
Kathryn Magendie of Virginia Kate Sagas stopped by and shared how GMR has gotten better about reducing perishable waste.
Eemilla stopped by and shared a "triple dose" with us.
Our bloggy friend, Alyona K., shared some wonderful ideas with us.
Plainolebob, from Just kicken it around, dropped by.
Le-Chat shared one of her favorite ways to reduce food waste in an article entitled "Look What I Found: My Frying Pan (including recipe)".
Envirovet stopped by with some very nice comments.
Argentum Vulgaris dropped in and gave us a Progress Report. Nice tomatoes, AV!
Ann came by and shared how she uses a bit of psychology to get kids to eat up.
Thanks to everyone who stopped in and participated!
Just a reminder ... everyone who leaves a comment will be included in the Honor Society. In addition, if you write an article (and let me know that you did), I'll Stumble it and Tweet about it ... hopefully we can spread the word and bring traffic to your site.
That's it for this week ... thanks for stopping by! And remember:
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
This is a really good one this week. In my house we have made the switch to the more efficient bulbs but even then we had A LOT. So to improve the light situation I am making a few modifications. First I'm switching out the 4 bulb fixture in my bathroom to a 2 bulb. Then I'm looking at reducing the overall number of bulbs in the house. I have already reduced the number of bulbs in the ceiling fans (It was 5 but down to 3 now). The main thing, in my opinion, to remember about lights is this - if you're not in the room turn off the light.
ReplyDeletevery creative idea! well i admit i have 'vanity' style lights in my bathroom - not my aesthetic preference but the house came with this style, and 3 1/2 years later i have still not changed a bulb. so i will unplug and see how it goes! adding onto your thought about how much light do we really need, it's a reflex to turn on the bathroom and kitchen lights but if we have window light, it's amazing how long we can leave those lights off (really, do we need bright lights to take a shower? i find it meditative to enjoy the filtered afternoon light of a cloudy day).
ReplyDeleteI posted about how to avoid wasting food, over on Gaiatribe.
ReplyDeleteAs for lights ... *sigh* most of our chandeliers are down to one functional socket because we can't afford to have them fixed, and it's not enough light.
Here is my lighting post:
ReplyDeletehttp://gaiatribe.geekuniversalis.com/2009/11/11/choosing-the-right-light/
A few years ago one of the four bulbs in my bathroom strip went out, and then another one went out. I realized that I really only needed two and have had two ever since. Works for me! It's a great idea!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth - it is quite easy to fix your own lighting sockets, but are you allowed to in the US for insurance reasons. If yes - I'll send you an email explaining how.
ReplyDeleteWhat about using low energy light bulbs if you can't turn your lighting down. I get the 'low energy' blue lights for my painting at night.
LED christmas lights (the garland ones in little balls - hmm - hard to explain, will take a photo and blog about them later in the week) look great in old glass vases to light the hall way or a tv room without resorting to bright bulb lighting where it's not necessary.
Candles are a good way to add extra light if it's not for reading or crafting by! We also teach the kids to turn out lights when they leave a room. As an energy saver - turn off computers and all electrical/electronic devices and unplug them at the wall if they have red 'veilleuses' lights as they consume lots of energy... That's it from me for now!
Hi Small Footprints! This will be my first participation in the CTWW! And I'm really excited about it :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'll get around to blogging about this but this is what I did. Instead of 3 bulbs, I reduced to 2, and for the washroom vanity lights, instead of 5, I reduced to 3.
And of course, the best way to really save energy is to turn off the light whenever it is not needed.
Best thing is, this not only saves energy, but, yup, it sure cuts down the bill!
Hey Small Footprint, I have something for you on my blog under the post "My First Award"
ReplyDeletehttp://becomingthebestpersonicanbe.blogspot.com/
Hiya, I'm a bit late this week, but have put something up about this great challenge:
ReplyDeletehttp://littlegreenblog.com/blog/green-news/change-the-world-wednesday-week-10/
We've recently switched to solar powered LEDs, so I won't be joining in with reducing the number of bulbs we have. But I will be continuing to make sure we don't leave lights on.
We rarely do now because otherwise we can be sitting in the dark at 8pm when there hasn't been much sun to power the solar panels, but there is always room for improvement ;)
Great idea! And the simple act of looking over the fixtures while unscrewing a bulb suggested other ideas, like
ReplyDeleteDusting Lightbulbs for Fun and Profit
I love the economical and green tips!
ReplyDeleteHi, just want to say I fianlly managed to weave the challenge into may most actual post! Read here:
ReplyDeletehttp://trashcollector.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-seventies-bathroom.html