Green Options

Few people will argue that LED lights are particularly attractive, but they may just be able to make you more attractive. German researchers reported last month that people who received several weeks of treatment under LED lights experienced a lessening of skin wrinkles similar to what is seen with Botox treatments.

An intelligent LED street lighting system that stays dim when humans are not around but increases its luminosity when it senses people walking nearby has been unveiled.

Philips, promotes the innovative street lighting concept as an ecological street light pole. The pole adapts its shape to capture the maximum source energy from sun and wind during daytime, using this energy during the night for illumination.

Depending on weather conditions, it can alternate between solar and wind modes.

Employing ‘flower mechanics’, the Light Blossom opens its petals to collect solar energy on sunny days and reorients them upwards to harness wind energy on cloudy days which, in turn, powers the lighting pole at night.

Residential Lighting reports that a new energy-efficient lighting technology, dubbed ESL (electron-stimulated luminescence) was patented in June by a startup company called Vu1.

The technology works by using accelerated electrons to stimulate a phosphor coating on the inside of the glass bulb. In contrast, incandescent bulbs run a current through a filament inside the bulbs, and LEDs stimulate semiconductors to create light.

The first ESL prototype is expected to output 40 lumens per watt with a 6,000 hour lifetime.

So why is the ESL bulb any better than CFLs or LEDs?

The micro mini Twist CFL: Big light, small package.
When it comes to the advent of the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), I am proud to say that I was an early adopter. And while I instantly noticed a reduction in my monthly electric bill, I also noticed that the compact fluorescent was not without its flaws. I found that the early compact fluorescents were often too bulky, preventing their use in certain fixtures; that they took a while to ‘warm up’ to full their full brightness; and that the light they put off could be a little harsh, especially as compared to the warm glow of the Edison-era incandescent light bulb. But times have changed, and the new micro-mini Twist from SYLVANIA is evidence that CFLs don’t need to be big, slow, and bright to be effective.

>>See also: European Union Bans Incandescent Light Bulbs

The micro-mini’s size is one of its biggest appeals and is what jumped out at me right away. Featuring an ultra-small ¼ inch tube diameter and a compact integral electronic ballast, the 13W micro-mini is the smallest CFL on today’s market.

Editor’s note: Thinking about a kitchen remodel? This week, Low Impact Living takes a look at every element of kitchen use, and how you can both make the space more efficient, more livable, and more earth-friendly. This post was originally published on September 7, 2007.

You may not know it, but your kitchen is one of the biggest resource hogs in your house. You use electricity and natural gas for your appliances. You use water in your sink and dish washer. Your fridge is stocked with foods grown and transported from all over the world that require chemicals, water and fuel to be produced and transported. And then there’s the non-recyclable packaging that goes straight to a landfill.

Here is a list of things you can do in your kitchen to lower your environmental impact, and also to live in a healthier home. We have recommendations for appliances, products and new behaviors.

Any chance you are planning a kitchen remodel? We also have great recommendations for you– wonderful new materials for countertops,cabinets and floors, leads on top-rated green architects and interior designers, and more. Just scroll down if you’re focused on a remodel.

Get Green in the Kitchen

1. Use energy-saving appliances. You can greatly reduce your power and water usage and your greenhouse gas production by using Energy Star appliances. Energy Star appliances can save as much as 50% of your energy and water use, and can cut your carbon footprint by 1000+ pounds, compared to standard appliances. Click here to see Energy Star models.

2. Use compact fluorescent lighting. Compact fluorescent lights use 1/4 the energy and last up to 10 times as long as standard bulbs. And they come in versions that are dimmable, recessed-ready, and daylight spectrum–any version of light type you can think of. Each high-use bulb you replace will save up to $10 and 100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, and they last for many years. Click here to see our wide range of CF lighting options.

3. Recycle and Re-use. Can you rinse that ziplock and use it again? Can you reuse the containers you got from take-out? And don’t get plastic bags every time you go to the store for groceries– take durable reusable sacks with you. Click here for reusable grocery bags..

The 20 teams selected for the 2009 Solar Decathlon have been announced by the US Department of Energy. Each team will receive a $100,000 grant from the DOE to be used for creating a completely solar-powered home for the competition.

The full list can be found in an article at Custom Home Online. The 2009 competition has some international flavor, including last year’s winner, the Technische Universität Darmstadt, as well [...]

At night, South Korea is literally aglow. When the sun goes down you’ll find a vibrant night life of kareoke (”norebang”), street markets, and sujo bars. Still, per person, Koreans use only a little over half the energy used in the United States. How do they manage to light up the night–every night–and still save energy?

Part of the answer might be South Korea’s high usage of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

It took me almost two months of living in Korea before I saw my first incandescent (”old fashioned”) light bulb. All of the others were energy efficient CFLs, like the one pictured here at this outdoor market.

December 28th, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan

Broke Your CFL? Don’t Panic!

The typical dose of mercury in a CFL is about the sizeof a pen tip 

(circled in red), and these doses have been getting smaller and smaller. 

(Photo provided by EPA.)

Australia has already begun to phase out the incandescent light bulb,

and the energy legislation recently signed by President Bush has

begun that process in the United States. Every time I turnaround,

it seems, someone is handing me a brand new

compact 

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Even if you’ve switched all your bulbs from incandescents to CFLs, it’s still good to practice turning off the lights when you don’t need them to save on energy.

Turning off the lights depends on the bulb. If you still have incandescent bulbs, it is always best to shut the light off when no one is in a room or if you aren’t using the light. Fluorescent lights are a little different, since constantly

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For Columbus Day, my cousin and I took the "Not Martha" challenge and created our own little sun jars. The project was quick with a total of 30 minutes to complete not including the wait time to store the sun rays and shopping of the supplies used. Also, it was fairly inexpensive at about $20 to make and fun to boot. Definitely a great way of showing how you can have a little green tech

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General Electric (GE) has announced it is restructuring its lighting business towards energy efficiency models and decreasing its emphasis on traditional incandescent bulbs. Thanks to consumer demand for efficient lighting and some governments even threatening to ban old fashioned bulbs, GE is refocusing its products to align more closely with the need.

Jim Campbell, President and CEO of GE’s consumer and industrial division, explained:

"We are increasing our focus on the development and production of

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