Green Options » LED lights

Have A Creative and Crafty Green Halloween

Wenona Napolitano — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:00:53 +0000

Crafty green Halloween décor may be lurking in the most unusual places…like your trash can or recycling bin.

You can create cute favor boxes crafted from cardboard toilet paper rolls and bejeweled black cats from empty plastic laundry detergent bottles. Old scraps of fabric can become ghastly ghosts and discarded pieces of wood can be transformed into a creepy cemetery in your yard. Empty Styrofoam containers and leftover Styrofoam packaging can also be transformed in reusable tombstones.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on new mass produced stuff at the Halloween store to have a frightfully fun Halloween. Instead you can go green and reuse everyday objects and implement natural elements to turn your home into a Halloween haunt.

Look at your options when looking for lighting

Philip C. Curtis — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:59:53 +0000

The incandescent bulb has been the standard in lighting since it was introduced over 100 years ago and we switched from candles. Incandescent lights are very inefficient as they expend a large portion of the energy needed to power them on heat. In the last few years compact fluorescent lights have become widely available and are now a common and easy to find replacement for standard incandescent bulbs. Although compact fluorescent lights are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs they are not suitable for all applications and are not as efficient as some emerging lighting technologies. The other problem with compact fluorescent lights is that they contain mercury which is toxic and difficult to dispose of.

One lesser know alternative to compact fluorescent lights for people looking for energy efficient replacement for their incandescent lights are LEDs or light emitting diodes. LEDs are very efficient as they waste very little energy on heat. LEDs can also easily be recycled and contain no toxic components. LED lights will also outlive even a compact fluorescent lamp by thousands of hours. The downside is that LEDs are still a bit expensive and the technology has not developed entirely so that it is a suitable alternative to incandescent or fluorescent.

However, it has been effectively adapted and applied to lighting applications such as Christmas lights, rope light, and landscape lights. The technology for use of LEDs has been developed well for use in these applications and the cost of these products in an LED is still higher than incandescent but is not unreasonable given the cost savings.

LED alternatives are also available for other lighting types as well. LED replacement bulbs are currently available for MR-16 type lamps that are commonly used in track lighting. LED lamps for the common PAR style bulb are also now available online but have not made it into big box stores and do not quite pack the same punch as their incandescent ancestors.

Lots of cool things are happening in lighting and most of us don’t get exposed to all the options because they haven’t hit the big box stores yet. However, if you do a little research and look around a bit online you can find some great lighting solutions that are more efficient than CFLs and better for the environment too.

5 Ways to Green Your Christmas and Reduce Waste

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:53:56 +0000

It has become predictable, with every approaching holiday, the green blogosphere erupts in eco-advice. Recently, I have received several emails asking for suggestions on how to reduce waste during this sometimes glutinous holiday. All the shopping bags, gift wrapping, decorating, etc. adds up to a tremendous amounts of packaging waste, which makes it challenging to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Here are a few suggestions for greening your Christmas celebrations. These suggestions also apply to other winter holidays.

Wrap Presents in Fabric and Forgo the Box: If you feel the need to wrap presents, which does create some wonder in children’s eyes, try wrapping presents in fabric. Fabric is reusable and less likely to be tossed in a landfill after the presents are opened. You can find less expensive fabric that has already been cut into “fat quarters” at fabric stores, as well as thrift stores. Left over fabric wrapping “paper” is great for later kid crafts and quilting. Furthermore, if offered a box from a retailer to place your present in before wrapping, decline this extra packaging. The more we reduce, the less waste we create.