Jen's Green Journal

All the cool kids are giving CFLs this holiday season. You can get a great deal on CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) -- or even get them for free with purchases of Organic, Fair Trade and Green items at Taraluna



Bloggers that are supporting and talking about the Holiday Lights campaign:

Sustainablog:
After searching the archives, I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I didn't make mention here of City Hippy and Green Jenni's Holiday Lights Campaign. The concept is simple: pledge to buy CFLs for holiday gifts this year. Green gift seller Taraluna has joined the campaign in big way: the company will give away a CFL with each purchase of $50 or more, and is selling the swirly-looking lightbulbs for $3.00 . .

greenerMIAMI:
The results of our latest poll is in. In the question, How many compact fluorescent light bulbs are you using in your home?, almost everyone is using at least one. It seems I may be preaching to the choir here . 

As I've mentioned before, using CFLs in your home instead of regular light bulbs, is probably the #1 easiest thing you can do to reduce your energy usage.

I'd love to hear your comments on these bulbs, your experience, and if you use them in your home.

Two green blogs, City Hippy and Jen's Green Journal, are sponsoring a related campaign for the holiday season. It is called Christmas Lights, though I am p/c inclined to change it to Holiday Lights.

Here's how it works. These bloggers want to encourage everyone to make the switch over to CFLs. In order to do so, they are asking people to pledge that they will give a CFL bulb to every person they give a gift to this holiday season. This could be in addition to a regular gift, or you could make it the gift itself!

See more details over at City Hippy and Jen's Green Journal.

What do you think of this campaign? Will you pledge to buy CFLs for family and friends this holiday season? I did!

I just found out that Al at City Hippy has been offered a fabulous new job and is going to be retiring the City Hippy blog.

City Hippy is a widely read green living blog from the U.K.

Al at City Hippy, along with Triple Pundit, founded the Carnival of the Green -- which will be taken over by Nick Aster of Treehugger.

I will also be sad to say goodbye to Al as we had teamed up for the Holiday Lights CFL campaign. I will continue the campaign along with the help of Penny at the eco-conscious/fair trade  goods company, TaraLuna, who will be giving out free CFLs with any purchase of $50 or more (you can also buy 75-watt equivelent CFLs on her site for $3 each -- a bargain over regular store prices).

Al, you and City Hippy will be missed. Best to you and your family.
Namaste,
Jen

It's still a bit early to be thinking about the holidays, but they really aren't that far away. I personally try to make my holiday dollars do several things: help the planet, promote fair trade and educate people on how to do that, too.

Penny at TaraLuna has joined me and City Hippy in our holiday lights campaign. We're trying to eliminate CO₂ in a big way, by encouraging people to give compact fluorescent lightbulbs as gifts.

TaraLuna is selling CFLs for a big discount ($3 vs the $6 - $12 you find retail) as well as giving free CFLs to those who buy $50 or more of fair trade, earth-friendly and organic items. Looking through the TaraLuna website I'm getting all kinds of great gift giving ideas . . .



TaraLuna

Taraluna's CFL action page

We'll soon have up a gift card PDF that can add the educational element to the gift -- explaining how much money and CO₂ can be saved by this simple product. Stay tuned . . .

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CFL facts:

For each incandescent bulb you replace with a CFL, you can save approximately 1000 to 1250 pounds of CO2 from being added to the atmosphere during the life of the bulb.

Each bulb can save you over $30 or £16 pounds over the life of the bulb in energy costs. That's because CFLs use 75% less energy and produce 90% less heat than incandescent bulbs.

CFLs are a gift that keeps on giving in money saved.

Do you have complicated or hard to reach light fixtures? CFLs can last 10,000 hours – 8 to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, which means a lot less labor and time spent on ladders and chairs.

An added bonus is that CFLs are safer than incandescents – they're cool to the touch and are less likely to cause burns or fires – although make sure you buy high watt CFLs to ensure they provide enough light for the person you are buying for. Here are some wattage equivalents for you:

15W CFL = 60W regular bulb
20W CFL = 75W regular
29W CFL = 100W regular
40W CFL = 150W regular
55W CFL = 250-300W regular

Update 10/25/06: There's now a gift card you can print up and add to your CFL gift which gives the gift that extra educational value. CFL gift card

UPDATE: Taraluna is offering free CFLs with a $50 or more purchase of Fair Trade, Organic and Green gifts and products. If you just want to buy CFLs it's also a great place to go. You can buy 75 watt equivelent CFLs for just $3. Each bulb will save you anywhere from $36 to $60 in energy costs over the life of the bulb, making it a gift that keeps on giving. Taraluna's CFLs

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Christmas Lights