Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs is one of the best ways to save energy and money in your home, while reducing your carbon footprint. The reason energy efficient light bulbs are more sustainable than incandescent bulbs is that traditional light bulbs give of 90% of their energy as heat, wasting energy and money.  On average, the CO2 footprint of a classic light bulb is 182 g per 8,000 hours, while an energy efficient light bulb is at 34 g per 8,000 hours. If every US household switches 3 classic light bulbs to energy efficient ones, the pollution savings would be the equivalent of taking three and a half million cars off of the road.

For this challenge I had to find 3 classic light bulbs in my house and replace them with energy efficient ones. I was happy to find that most of the light bulbs in my house were energy efficient, however there were a few in my basement that were still classic light bulbs. There were various bulbs to choose from for different reasons. I chose the CFL bulbs due to the fact that they were cheaper, however the LED bulbs seemed to be of higher quality and were able to last longer.* 3 of these bulbs cost $8.98 from Lowes. These bulbs are really affordable so there shouldn’t be any excuses for why anyone shouldn’t replace all of their bulbs with energy efficient ones. It takes less than a minute to change them out and the environmental and economic benefits are worth it!

*Expired light bulbs should NOT be thrown away in the trash! Bring them to electronic stores or recycling centered when they retire.