Sustainability means the capacity to endure and you probably hear it often in reference to green living, saving the earth and recycling.
But did you know that practicing sustainability can be as easy as changing out your light bulbs to GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start and GE Energy Efficient Soft White CFL bulbs?? The Energy Smart Bright From the Start bulbs are the very first light bulb to be Energy Star rated. And that means that they meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy. (Energy Star)
CFL lights can be used anywhere that you have an incandescent (old style) bulb and use 75% less energy. And the GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start are bright from the start. No more of that turning-on-a-light-switch-and-waiting-a-full-minute to get to full brightness. They are available in 60W and 75W currently.
GE Energy Efficient Soft White bulbs also provide instant brightness, and are fully dimmable.
I started in my home with these…
These old light bulbs that have no energy saving claims. In fact, they use 75% MORE energy than a CFL!! Yikes.
I’ve always been conscious of “saving energy” but I had NO IDEA I was wasting so much by not getting around to switching out the entire house yet. We were about 1/2 way through.
I have a few great tips on how to save more energy and get that sustainability mindset going full speed:
- Turn lights off (obvious)
- Don’t turn lights on out of habit. This seems obvious too, but I find that people often walk into a room during the day and turn on the light! I’m known as a lights-out nazi at works because I go around turning off lights in unused rooms.
- Unplug unused electronics. You can even buy a power strip, or two, and turn it off each day when they are not in use. This could have a very big impact on your $ savings also!
- Do not use more than one large appliance at the same time. Don’t use the washer AND dryer. Try not to use the oven when the dishwasher, or dryer or washer is going. And vice versa all of it. Try not to use any of it if the heater or air conditioner is on.
- Desktop computers and gaming systems are a huge energy suck. Make sure they get turned off or unplugged when they are not in use.
- Make sure you are using a programmable thermostat (and actually programming it).
GE has also put together a fancy CFL savings calculator. I entered the lighting that I had in my house and LOOK at what came back!!!! I’d love to hear what your savings come back as when you enter your household lighting situation.
Just by switching out my light bulbs I stand to save over $174 a year!!!! And almost $1,000 over the bulbs’ lifetimes. I don’t know about you, but I can use an extra $15 per month! $15 might not seem like much, but $175 pays my electricity bill for one month AND then some ($50ish).
Knowing that GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start bulbs are Energy Star approved and GE Energy Efficient Soft White bulbs last EIGHT times longer and use 75% less energy than my current bulbs and seeing, feeling, touching the amount I can save ($958!) just by switching over Jonesie and I headed out to Walmart.
The lighting aisle in my Walmart was no doubt intimidating!
There was an ENTIRE aisle full of light bulbs. Big ones, small ones, smart ones, un-smart ones? Some of them were very inexpensive, which doesn’t make sense to me? Some of them have money saving claims clearly stated on the front Where to start? With the GE Energy Smart of course!
GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start light bulbs actually have a five year guarantee on the back! You do have to save the UPC and receipt, but if the bulb doesn’t last for five years they will replace the bulb! I’m pretty confident that I won’t need them, but wow!
I know that we had a conversation a few months ago about CFL lights and some of us (me included) found that the cheaper CFL bulbs just didn’t last nearly as long as they claimed.
A two-pack of GE Energy Smart Bright From the Start bulbs was just over $10 in my Walmart, but the energy savings, the money savings and the effect these changes will have on the environment the benefit far over-weighs the cost. PLUS – I have a coupon for you here!
Watch this video for even more for a VERY FUNNY take on why you should be switching over now.
Don’t forget to head over to the GE website savings calculator and find your savings.
You can check out our whole shopping trip and see all of the options in my #GELighting Google+ album.
Be sure that you follow GE Lighting online:
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions and beautiful children belong to me.
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Jill I can’t wait to see how much you save with this – hope it’s a TON!