I know, I know…I keep blogging about green things – and especially those silly little light bulbs…now I’ll share with you my theory as to why. 

Green Squiggle Theory # 1:   Switching to compact fluorescents lights is one of the easiest (and most effective) ways we can go green, save the planet, and save money. Okay and while we’re at it…let’s be honest, we’ve become so educated about these little mercury filled light sources now,  that we can just be big, proud, green experts and fling around the term – CFL’s!) .  Yes, after the initial shock (no pun intended) over the higher cost of the CFL’s, you realize that you haven’t changed that bulb in months, months  I say!  Cool beans.

Let me take an untraditional commercial break here to share some real data and research that underscores how great this little guys really are: 

Lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of the average home’s electric bill. ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs use up to 75 percent less energy (electricity) than incandescent light

bulbs, last up to 10 times longer, cost little up front, and provide a quick return on investment.

If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes. That would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars.

Thank you Energy Star people…now to return to our regular programming…

Green Squiggle Theory #2:  I’m surrounded by them. Literally.  I step across the threshold of my office and bam-o, boxes of CFL’s stacked shoulder high.  We, my friends, are in a heated green, CFL-selling frenzy – a competition – between guess who – Tallahassee and Gainesville – apparently we can compete about anything ..everything!

We’re selling them for .50 cents each!  I can even afford them.  And yes, I bought half a dozen…and they are going like hotcakes.  No sooner is the send button hit on the e-mail announcing the sale, than the front (and back) door of our office starts flying open.  It’s really an amazing thing.   We should have a revolving door – I think they’re more green anyway.

The incredibly way the sales are going, I’ll think we’ll win this Gator vs. Seminole competition.  We’ll find out the results at the Gators vs. FSU game on Nov. 29. 

Someone in the office said the whole point of this “event’ is to heighten awareness of saving the planet and neutralizing our carbon footprint.  Good, great and wonderful.  Another colleague suggested probably a more honest assessment…we want to neutralize the Seminoles’ offense!

I say we all win.