According to the folks at New American Dream, electricity production is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and lighting accounts for about 25 percent of American electricity consumption. By replacing four standard bulbs with CFLs, you can prevent the emission of 5000 pounds of carbon dioxide and reduce your electricity bill by more than $100 over the lives of those bulbs.

If only 1,000 of us each replace four standard bulbs with CFLs, we can prevent the emission of five million pounds of carbon dioxide and reduce our electricity bills by more than $100,000 over the lives of those bulbs.

Low-mercury compact fluorescent light bulbs can be picked up at your local hardware or discount store. But some utilities now sell CFLs to their customers at less-than-retail prices, so check with your local utility. See the (green) Light, and let us know how you feel.