home - blogs - cheaper than a shrink

Cheaper than a Shrink

OK, maybe you - like me - suffer occasionally from the summer doldrums (people think I'm nuts, but honestly, while spring and fall rock my world, summer can make me consider bridge jumps).

Fortunately, however, I have come up with a cure for what ails me.  This summer, every day, I am going to try to do one thing that makes me feel like I'm making a little change for myself and the world (sounds suspiciously like the mission of this company, doesn't it?)

Seriously, though - it's bizarre.  What shopping therapy does for some, "green therapy" does for me. I can't explain to you how great I feel when I fill up my SIGG bottle or put in a faucet filter instead of buying a bottle of water.  I love saying "Oh no, I don't need a bag" at the drugstore.  I get completely weird satisfaction from putting my used ink cartridges in the mail and sending them back to the manufacturers.   I feel all warm and fuzzy when I look around my bathroom and realize that - with a few exceptions - I have a nearly paraben-free beauty habit. 

But I gotta say - changing those CFL bulbs takes the cake.

Try it. CHANGE at least ONE of your lightbulbs to a CFL version.  (Then go to Environmental Defense and let them know you did it - they are keeping track). It's amazing how good it makes you feel.  You unscrew the one, screw in the CFL version, turn it on (waiting that caught-breath half-a-beat waiting time that it takes the CFL to light up), and... drum roll...

Viola!  Instant feel-good.

They might be more expensive than regular lightbulbs - but think of it this way: even putting aside the fact that they pay for themselves in energy savings:

They are a LOT cheaper than therapy.

-Heather... off to thin the blossoms off my heirloom tomatoes...

Posted by: jboulden on 06/25/2006
related tip
51 Comments 
Email Permalink
Bookmark and Share
Email Send to a Friend
JS  on June 25, 2006 at 08:04 PM 1
a quick google of CFL facts are amazing...stuff like if everybody in the US replaced traditional lights with CFLs, we'd instantly cut our carbon emissions by half... and, definitely neat, a faucet with a self-regenerating water turbine & infrared sensor: http://www.totousa.com/consumer_landing.asp
Kate Leonard  on June 26, 2006 at 06:08 AM 2
They can be cheap to buy too! You can buy a package of 8 at Costco for $15!!! They are the equivalent of 60W. And they also have the 40W equivalent. Definately something to check out. I changed all the lightbulbs in our house after finding these!
LA  on June 26, 2006 at 06:55 AM 3
Any ideas for changing out the flood lights in my ceiling?
JS  on June 26, 2006 at 07:44 AM 4
LA: sure, here's a good source where i buy from: http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/25_44
Avery Yale Kamila  on June 26, 2006 at 08:37 AM 5
I'm a big fan of CFLs, and use them in all my fixtures and lamps. However, I recently learned a troubling fact about these bulbs: they contain mercury. Would love to hear if anyone knows of mercury-free CFL.
Meredith  on June 26, 2006 at 08:55 AM 6
My soon-to-be-husband and I recently bought a house that needed some TLC. We've had to replace a lot of lights, and for the most part, we've made sure they are all using CFLs. However, the last time I went to Home Depot, the only CFLs they had were individually packaged. I had one of the guys hunt me down the one remaining multi-pack they had, but I ended up buying a pack of incandescents for another size I needed. I just couldn't see negating the benefit of the CFL by buying them each individually packaged in mounds of plastic! I told the Home Depot guy as much, and he agreed that it didn't make much sense. Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this?
Veronica  on June 26, 2006 at 09:18 AM 7
What about the buzz? Maybe I just have sensitive ears, but are there any CFLs that don't buzz?
jennifer  on June 26, 2006 at 09:32 AM 8
CFLs do contain mercury, but Earth 911 http://www.earth911.org has info about how to properly recycle the bulbs (punch in your zip code, then go to Household Hazardous Waste and look for 'fluorescent bulbs'). Here in Minneapolis, for example, the electric company covers the cost of the recycling at the county recycling center. Alternatively, it provides coupons to cover part of the cost for recycling CFLs at local hardware stores. Finally, Earth 911 also lists national recyclers with mail-in programs. Happy recycling, people!
JS  on June 26, 2006 at 09:55 AM 9
avery, i couldn't locate any mercury-free CFLs last i looked...but, that said, CFLs actually constitute less of a mercury threat than traditional incandescents. That makes sense to me...unless you're already near 100% renewable power, but even then, you've still got the tremendous energy savings. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/what_about_merc.php veronica, last i knew, most manufacturers resolved the buzzing issue, but it could be that i either don't hear it, or buy the "non-buzzing" brands! the packaging's tough...but i bet a quick life cycle would show that even single CFL with packing works out "better" than traditional incandescents. and LED seems best of all if you can go that way!
Sarah  on June 26, 2006 at 10:37 AM 10
There is just no good reason not to switch. I spent just over $100 to replace all 21 light bulbs in my house last year, including the motion-sensitive outdoor lighting, garage lights and closet lights. My electricity bill went from $20 to $8 per month, meaning the bulbs paid for themselves in less than a year. There is little or no difference in light quality. As for the buzzing, try a lower wattage bulb - that did the trick for me.
123456next ›last »

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <font> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <p> <br> <img>

More information about formatting options