A Bright Idea

It is well known that Wal-Mart has not been the most environmentally sound company since its beginning in 1962. However, in affiliation with Yahoo, Wal-Mart has launched the "18 Seconds Campaign." 18 seconds is the amount of time it takes to change a light bulb, and this new program tracks how many compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are purchased in the Wal-Mart stores across the country.

Did you know, generally, when you turn on a light, you send heat pollution into the atmosphere? Did you know that the average U.S household produces two times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions than the average car? Did you know a standard light bulb only uses 10% of the electricity it actually consumes? (The other 90% is lost as heat.)

CFLs are designed to use less energy, and produce less pollution, than the standard bulb. The bulbs are also designed to produce the same amount of light as a standard bulb, while being environmentally efficient. If a CFL has the government issued Energy Star label, you can be sure the bulb uses one-third of the amount of energy that a standard bulb uses. In addition to this, the bulbs can last up to ten times longer and can save you $30 or more on your electric bill over the lifetime of the bulb.

Since the first of this year 152,122,751 CFLs have been purchased in the stores across the country. These purchases have saved a total of $4,491,485,072! Also, since more than half of our country's electricity is produced by the burning of coal, CFLs are also helping to use less coal. 15,836,404,892 pounds of coal have been saved since the first of the year as a result of these bulbs and those who have purchased them.