Change a Bulb. Change Everything: 18seconds.org
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 02.23.07
Things are looking bad for the incandescent bulb. Not only have California and Australia decided to ban this out dated technology, but it seems there is a huge surge in interest in its successors – the Compact Flourescent Lightbulb (CFL) and, ultimately, LED technology. Yesterday saw the launch of 18Seconds.org, an innovative new US campaign with the slogan: ‘Change a bulb. Change everything.’ The campaign website asks “how enlightened is your area”, and then sets out to provide answers. The idea is to offer an interactive map ranking states, and major cities, according to how many CFLs have been bought since the beginning of the year. So far, Arkansas is in the lead with 284,055 bulbs sold, while District of Columbia is in last place, with only 1725 bulbs sold this year. Of course, this is not exactly a fair competition, given that it is based on total number of bulbs sold, rather than bulbs per capita. However, the idea is neat - by tapping into people’s civic pride and natural sense of competition we can increase adoption of efficient technologies.
It’s not all about being first though. The website also includes some accessible and easy to understand education on why CFLs make so much sense, how to choose your bulbs, and how to dispose of them properly (they suggest checking out earth911 for appropriate recycling facilities). Crucially, the site also tackles the question of CFL toxicity pointing out that, while proper disposal is important, coal plants also produce mercury, so increased efficiency means less total mercury in the atmosphere. For a more in-depth discussion of the various objections to CFLs and why they are, in our opinion, mostly invalid, check out Ron Dembo’s post on the subject here.
Other important snippets of information on 18seconds.org include the fact that an ‘energy star qualified CFL saves 450 pounds of CO2 in its lifetime’, and that it will save a homeowner up to $60 in energy bills. The site also informs people, in no uncertain terms, that reducing ‘the amount of fossil fuels you burn – to power your home, office, or vehicle – is the most important thing you can do to reduce global warming.’
The 18 seconds.org website has been put together by Yahoo and Nielsen, and we know that Wal Mart are also involved – check out Treehugger Radio, being posted later today, to hear Andy Ruben of Wal Mart discuss this initiative, and stay tuned for a more in-depth interview with him next week. We will be keeping a close eye on this initiative, and are in the process of getting more information on how this came about, and where it is headed. In the meantime, we thought we’d engage our ever-creative readers on how communities can best promote the adoption of CFLs, and boost their rankings on 18seconds.org. We’ve already heard about our very own Mr Luna and his Bright Idea, but what other ways can civic society get involved? Are Treehuggers best advised to put their efforts into campaigning for a ban on the old bulbs, or into promoting awareness and uptake of the alternatives? One thing is for sure, the incandescent just got a little bit older, and maybe we can help its demise. ::18seconds.org::
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- 360 Wind Powered Wal-Mart Stores by April 2009
- Coal's Darkest Hour Comes Just Before EPAs New Dawn
- GE Quietly Folds on High Efficiency Incandescent
- Obama: It's Not About the "F---ing" Light Bulbs
I guess I don't get the rankings. New York sold 463,954 and is in 45th place, California sold 2,242,647 and is in 22nd place, but Arkansas sold 284,055 and is in first place?
Is it opposite day or am I missing something?
The whole idea is amazing, though. It really breaks down the impact of CFLs nicely.
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Authors note:
Hmmm, maybe it is per capita - we are in the process of finding out more, and will keep you posted. Thanks for pointing this out.
The site is a great idea, but Rochester NY and Rochester MN are NOT the same city. :-(
Maybe it's my east coast elitism, but do they expect us to believe that CFL's are more common in highly rural areas?
The numbers seems skewed because the rankings are done on a per-capita basis. By that metric, the mid-west is killing us liberal coastal elites. HA!
And from being at the launch event, I can tell you that the coalition that created this website absolutely wants it to spark competition between geographic groups and organizations on all levels...
We've heard all the stats regarding how much CO2 and energy is saved by using CFLs. Now, how about giving us the numbers which compare the differences in emissions and power consumed in manufacture of the two types of bulbs. CFLs seem to be more complicated, and would logically take more hard resources to build. What is the net saving to the environment?
The state by state competition isn't what is most important of course. It's gimmicky to get us all more engaged, which it does
The site says the competition is per capita based. Not much info is published on the methodology and it looks like what they have posted has changed. But here is what I think is happening. The Nielsen data is surely wonky -- it only includes Food (eg Safeway, Albertsons), Drug (eg Osco, Walgreens) and Mass (Kmart, Target, Shopko) data. Club retailers (Costco Sams) are not included, Walmart!!would not normally be included either, (unless something special has been arranged with wth them for this site,) and hardware stores are not included. That is probably where most sales of CFL's are happening in the country. So the results may depend more on what type of retailers on in your area then how "enlightened" your area is. Anyway, they should post more details so we know what is being measured, and what new retailers are being included.
Also, the state by state competition should really be on a go-forward basis. What we have done in the past is fine, but we'll all be more motivated by trying to move the needle going forward. I just went from zero to 10 CFLs in my house this weekend (purchased at costco where PG&E is providing some sick rebates.)
The state by state competition isn't what is most important of course. It's gimmicky to get us all more engaged, which it does
The site says the competition is per capita based. Not much info is published on the methodology and it looks like what they have posted has changed. But here is what I think is happening. The Nielsen data is surely wonky -- it only includes Food (eg Safeway, Albertsons), Drug (eg Osco, Walgreens) and Mass (Kmart, Target, Shopko) data. Club retailers (Costco Sams) are not included, Walmart!!would not normally be included either, (unless something special has been arranged with wth them for this site,) and hardware stores are not included. That is probably where most sales of CFL's are happening in the country. So the results may depend more on what type of retailers on in your area then how "enlightened" your area is. Anyway, they should post more details so we know what is being measured, and what new retailers are being included.
Also, the state by state competition should really be on a go-forward basis. What we have done in the past is fine, but we'll all be more motivated by trying to move the needle going forward. I just went from zero to 10 CFLs in my house this weekend (purchased at costco where PG&E is providing some sick rebates.)