Oregon Co. to Reduce Carbon Emissions with Florescent Bulb Giveaway

Chances are that when a Wisconsin senator pushed to establish the first Earth Day in 1970, he had no idea what kinds of strides technology would take toward carbon footprint reductions.

 

After all, that was four years before anyone even used the term “Internet” to describe a single, global TCP/IP network.

 

Now, as Earth Day approaches this week, the IT and IP communications media is pumping out heaps of information about how products and services stand to benefit Mother Earth.

 

Today alone on TMCnet’s Green Technology news site, we read an article about how AT&T and Cell Phones For Soldiers have recycled more than 2.5 million wireless devices in the past year, and another about how Advanced Data Centers, an owner and operator of wholesale data centers, says one of its California facilities is saving 36 percent more on carbon emissions than others.

 

This month, a Portland, Oregon-based reproduction lighting and house parts maker is hailing its efforts to recruit customers’ help in order to offset its carbon output from last year.

 

Starting tomorrow, officials at Rejuvenation say they’ll include compact fluorescent bulbs in customer orders with light fixtures, providing more than 3,000 free bulbs.

 

According to the company’s president, Alysa Rose, Rejuvenation discovered that its greatest impact on the environment came through using lights.

 

“We calculated how many bulbs it would take to offset our carbon and will give the bulbs to our customers,” Rose said. “They can save money and reduce their impact on the environment. It’s a small thing but we feel strongly that we have both an opportunity and an obligation to make a positive difference.”

 

Specifically, about 70 percent of the company’s lighting selection is available with a hardwired, compact florescent upgrade. By late 2009, the company says, nearly all of its lighting will be available in GU24.

 

“Selecting fixtures with this option is an easy, inexpensive way to make the commitment to lessoning your footprint and saving money on electricity expenses,” company officials say.

 

Federal officials seem to agree.

 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with an “ENERGY STAR (News - Alert)” qualified compact fluorescent bulb, the nation would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for one year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.