Change-A-Light Campaign Hits the Road

The Environmental Protection Agency is putting the message of switching to energy-efficient light bulbs on wheels. The EPA and the Department of Energy are co-sponsoring a 10-city, 20-day tour to raise awareness of the benefits of compact fluorescent bulbs as well as other ways to cut down on energy consumption in lighting your home.

The tour started today at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and consists of a tour bus. The tour will set up an outdoor, interactive education center that strive to teach visitors of the connection between lighting choices and energy consumption and how that can affect the environment. The education center will also inform visitors about the benefits of switching to more energy-efficient lighting choices and the proper use and disposal of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that carry the Energy Star label. JC Penny sponsors the interactive education centers.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said in a press release announcing the kick-off to the Change-A-Light tour, "Protecting the environment, while saving money, is as easy as changing a light. And through the Change a Light bus tour, we're taking that message on the road. By encouraging people to make smart energy decisions, President Bush and EPA are brightening America's future, one light at a time."

Energy Star certified bulbs and lamps use 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs, with a lifespan of 6 to 10 times longer that the less efficient bulbs. This can save the consumer more than $30 over the lifetime of that one bulb. If every household in the US changed only one light bulb from the incandescent to the CFLs, it would be the equivalent of preventing greenhouse gas emissions from over 800,000 cars. It could also mean an overall energy savings of $600 million of the course of one year.

The cities that the tour will be visiting in the next twenty days include San Francisco, Denver, Des Moines, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Maplewood, New Jersey, Boston and New Your City. The tour bus is being provided by Motor Coach Industries, and the bus is a new state-or-the-art motor coach that runs on ultra low-sulfur diesel. It is also powered by a 2007 EPA-model clean diesel engine that is fitted with a particulate scrubber. The EPA states that this particular bus could displace the need for more than 50 cars on the nation's highways.

In addition to education and awareness building, the Change-A-Light tour also encourages Americans to take the Change-A-Light pledge. The pledge is a commitment to change at least one traditional bulb with an Energy Star certified bulb. So far, without the benefit of the tour, more than 900,000 Americans across the country have already taken the pledge to change over 2 million light bulbs.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency