The Light of My Life

I considered titling this post "How many blondes does it take to screw in a CFL light bulb?" but I have no sense of humour when it comes to dumb blonde jokes so I just couldn't do it (but the writer in me still thinks it's pretty good, so I had to throw the line in here somewhere).

Anyway, on Friday, Duane found a safer way to be a hero by issuing a challenge to his friends and blog readers to go out and purchase CFL light bulbs to replace their regular incandescent light bulbs with.

Here's an excerpt of his challenge post:

If you don’t know what a CFL light bulb is, then read on. CFL light bulbs are very efficient light sources (at least when compared to the typical incandescent light bulb).

Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants. Saving electricity reduces CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide and high-level nuclear waste.

No only that, but they are far more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, meaning that you’ll save money on your electric bill each month.

Okay, so first when I read the challenge I was like, "CFL light bulb? What kind of oddball marketing scheme has the Canadian Football League come up with now?" (Bite your tongue, no dumb blonde jokes allowed.) But then I researched further and learned that CFL is short for Compact Fluorescent Lamp, and a CFL bulb has nothing to do with footballs and everything to do with being a responsible global citizen.

A typical CFL bulb resembles a twisty soft serve ice cream cone. You can purchase them pretty much wherever you buy regular light bulbs. I got mine at London Drugs--$8.99 for two. Note that nowhere on the packaging of the bulbs I purchased did it refer to the term CFL bulb (perhaps there's some licensing issue with the aforementioned sports league) so I was kind of worried for a bit that I was going to get tricked into buying some imitation bulb that really wasn't going to make any positive difference whatsoever. The bulbs are supposed to last for seven years. Mine came with a warranty. I realized too when I got home that I already had a CFL bulb in my reading lamp, but it's not a cute twisty one. See, I knew what they were all along, it's just some shoddy marketing that hasn't put the proper language out there yet. I am more than happy to step in and help in that department.

Duane would like to hear from anyone who has taken him up on his challenge. He has added a fun photo element as well:

To make this a bit more “fun”, I’ve created a flickr group for photos: check it out here. As you replace your bulbs, take a few photos and post them to that group for inspiration. The more fun the photo, the better — show everyone you replacing a bulb, you buying a bulb, or anything else related to this activity.

Please visit Duane's blog or use mine to let us know you did your part. (Cue Captain Planet theme song here...oooh how I loved that show.)

Stay tuned for a challenge of my own that I will be issuing sometime this weekend. In the meantime, if you were a Care Bear, what would be on your tummy?