As a Mother of 2 elementary age children, I'm policed pretty carefully when it comes to "living green." We carefully recycle plastics, metal and paper every week and we do all we can to reduce our heating, cooling and water usage. We also changed every light bulb in our house from incandescent to fluorescent (CFLs).
Now the latest lighting technology showed up spectacularly at the Beijing Olympics. The new technology I'm told could reduce overall electricity usage and carbon emissions in the U.S. by 15%. Light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs lit up the amazing and beautiful Water Cube Aquatics Centre where our own Michael Phelps won all those gold metals. LED bulbs make fluorescent bulbs look like energy hogs and they last much longer. You may only have to replace your light bulbs every 15 or 20 years!
The biggest drawback at this time is that LED products are expensive to make. LEDs currently have a sapphire base. However, this summer Purdue University created a process that uses low-cost silicon wafers instead. The technology hasn't yet hit the manufacturers' floors but I believe it soon will. There's a lot of support for new LED technology in government and industry. Manufacturers have expressed hope that they will have a viable product for home use in the next 3 to 5 years at a cost of less than $5.
For those of you thinking of remodeling, in the same timeframe, the industry is working on OLED (Organic LED) products. The result will be lightweight plastic sheets of light using less energy than we use today. Think of the decorating possibilities. Are you ready for the future?
If you have any green suggestions I wish you'd let me know. You can use the comments section below. Call me anytime at 402-697-4251 or email me at Marie.Otis@cbshome.com.
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