Another way your members can save the Earth is by limiting travel and using conference calling in place of travel. www.FreedomConferenceCall.com provides this service free of charge. Please pass this on to your membership.

Thanks!
Sharon

An OK video, however most people are not aware that CFLs contain mercury, and HAVE to be disposed of at haz mat sites, which are few and far between. At least the big fluorescents (which also have mercury) are awkward to put in your trash can. CFLs are very easy to get rid of, but the merc is not. We need a public information campaign about THAT! (I have many CFLs, but I also am a certified Master Recycler and know where/what to take to the dump. I'm not the norm.)

Best wishes,

Liz @portland, oregon

Great Video! Fun to watch and educational.

Liz (post above) brings up a very important point and one of the major challenges we face.

How do we know what is the best thing to do, or the best product to buy, or who to buy it from?

What if any negative effects might the product have. Where do we get our information from and who should we trust?

"All things considered it's hard to consider all things."

It is true that CFLs contain mercury, however just that statement alone does not tell the whole story. CFLs are responsible for LESS mercury into our environment that incandescents, and this benefit is in addition to all of the electricity reduction, greenhouse gas reduction, and cost savings described in the video. None of our modern day society products are necessarily perfect, but CFLs are yet again a definite improvement.

From a June 2002 US EPA report: A single CFL contains on average 4 milligrams of mercury (and those amounts are reducing, plus some manufacturers are now creating very low mercury models already). The electricity used to run a CFL during its lifetime also produces an extra 2.4 mg of mercury from coal producing power plants. However, the electricity used to run an incandescent bulb over the same time period is 10 mg. So, the sum total for CFLs is 6.4 mg and the total for incandescents is a definitely worse 10 mg, plus CFLs at least have the option of being properly recycled whereas the power plant emissions are spewed everywhere into our environment and are not recycled or contained.

For further information:
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf

Tell it like it is!! Man, if I knew I was saving that much money, I would have changed the bulbs years before I did. Can't wait to see your next film about another aspect. I'll be a millionaire by the time you're done. Thanks! Everybody needs to see this film.

Great video Scott & Karen!

One bonus for parents of wee ones like us--they all seem to go through a phase where they are obsessed with turning lamps on & off--since they aren't hot to the touch, the kids can't burn themselves (like our oldest did once!)

Scott and Karen, I loved the video. It was compelling (I had already replaced roughly half of our homes bulbs with CFLs, and plan to complete the swap now based on viewing your video). Coupled with your responses regarding mercury content, it was pragmatic (I had already expressed concern to my wife over that issue, given our three active boys in the house). Finally, it made me laugh my guts out.

I personally feel that the earth is following a natural climate cycle and I view with scorn the poor science being done in advocacy of the GW movement, I sincerely believe that we are called by God to be good caretakers of what we've been put in charge of: this planet. Poisoning and waste is not good stewardship! Although I'm in no hurry to trade in the sports car or Jeep, I'm convinced, and I'm so with you on this one, Karen and Scott. Nicely done.

Wow - I'm changing my bulbs. Thanks.

Nice video, I enjoyed it. It reminds me of a comment Jim Brotherton made some years ago: if you have incandescent light bulbs burning in your house, all that extra heat warms the house, which in cold weather offsets some of your heating bill. Furthermore, the bulb's light becomes heat when it hits a surface inside the house. So in cold weather, you're actually using 100% of the bulb's energy output (minus whatever light escapes out a window). This would reduce the cost savings in your calculations.

The exact amount would depend on the weather patterns where you live (also considering that in the summer, the extra heat increases any air conditioning costs), and the price of electricity compared to your furnace's fuel. At times when natural gas or heating oil is unusually expensive, you might actually save money in the short term by using as many incandescent bulbs as possible.

Of course, CFLs are still worth it for all the other reasons you mentioned.

An easy and effective solution. Well Presented too.

I am a chicken who is somehow able to peck out this comment. I liked the video and have asked my farmer to switch to cfl's in the hen house during the warm season. The incandescents put off too much heat! Thanks for your video.
- Dave the chicken