18Seconds movement

26. February 2007, 0:57 UhrVikas Sah

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Yahoo Inc. together with Bender, the producer of the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” launched a website - http://www.18seconds.org - devoted to rallying US consumers to fight global warming by switching light bulbs from standard bulbs to CFL bulbs.

The movement itself has been named 18Seconds movement as that is the typical amount of time is takes for a person to change a light bulb.

“This movement is about empowering the individual — to say to every person in America that with one easy step, they can become part of a movement that will literally change the world,” said Bender, producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’

The amount of electricity saved by using a 13-watt CFL instead of a conventional 60-watt bulb translates into a reduction of 450 pounds of greenhouse gases spewed by a coal-burning power plant, according to Yahoo.

What is a CFL bulb? (definition by 18seconds.org)

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) is a light bulb that uses less energy than a standard bulb to provide the same amount of light. Those bearing the government’s ENERGY STAR label use 1/3 the energy of a traditional bulb, can last up to 10 times longer, and save $30 or more in energy costs over their lifetime. You can find ENERGY STAR CFLs most anywhere you currently shop for light bulbs.

What are the reasons to switch to CFL bulbs?

CFLS HELP FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING: because CFL bulbs make efficient use of energy so there is less consumption of coal/natural gas (which are primary sources of electricity generation)
CFLS PREVENT OTHER POLLUTION, TOO: reduces unhealthy byproducts coming out of power plants.
CFLS SAVE MONEY: less energy is needed to generate light thus saving money on electricity bill
CFLS SAVE MONEY: their lifetime is equivalent to 10 standard bulbs.

The site also says that you can save $60 in money as well if you swap 5 of your most used incandescent bulbs with Energy Star Compliant CFL bulbs.

(click on the image to enlarge)

The site is flash-based. There you can see how many CFL bulbs were purchased in US since 1/1/2007. You can also get the numbers for your state and city. It also tells where your city or state stands (rank wise) among others in buying CFL bulbs. It ties the number of CFL bulbs to the amount of dollars saved, cars off the road, pounds of coal saved and pounds of Carbon dioxide prevented so that you can understand the extent of savings.

I like the use of shades of green to show which states/cities are doing better than others. The darker the shade the better that place is doing (or in their terms is more “Enlightened”). Here is how my state is faring:

which is not that great.

What are you waiting for this is a gain-gain scenario so head out and buy those Energy Star Compliant CFL bulbs right now! Also, please create badges to promote this movement and embed them on their sites.

This site is a very effective means of promoting and leading an awareness campaign which is potentially a very big issue. It is always good to see technology being help environmental causes.