Read about how One Billion Bulbs began in these early days blog entries.

Although this blog has been discontinued you can learn more about the Energy Trek and One Billion Bulbs journey here.

We are pleased to report that our 100th group was created recently. It's fabulous to see so many groups are being sponsored here at One Billion Bulbs. We hoped they would be a powerful way of reaching out into various elements of the community.

Each group illustrates how one person can be a catalyst for action in his or her workplace, school, place of worship, etc. Here is a quick sample of our groups:

• There are school groups like Mrs. Russell's Class in North Carolina and the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business in Colorado.
• There are businesses like Ayers/Saint/Gross in Maryland and Michael O'Hare Productions in Washington.
• There are faith-based groups like the River of Grass Unitarian Univeralist Congregation in Florida and The Congregational Church of Littleton in Massachusetts.
• There are community groups like Georgians for a Greener Tomorrow in Georgia and Ashton Woods Property Owners Association in West Virginia.
• There are website-based groups like Friends of Chanchanchepon and Sirius Backstage.

Take a look at the Search Groups page to see the full list of groups so far. And please take a minute to consider creating a group of your own too!

NPR's "All Things Considered" ran a piece today on compact fluorescent bulbs ("Do Fluorescent Bulbs Light the Way to the Future?").  One Billion Bulbs had the good fortune of being mentioned (and quoted) in the piece.  The audio is available online at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7279952 .

Since the NPR piece ran, we've received a considerable amount of email--most of it overwhelmingly enthusiastic and positive.  We've also received a large number of questions.  Given the volume of email, we might not be able to respond to each one individually.   However, I will hit on a few points here:

Mercury/Disposal Issues - Many people asked about mercury in CFLs and CFL disposal issues.  CFL bulbs do contain trace amounts of mercury.  However, it's important to note that the burning of fossil fuels (like coal) is the biggest source of mercury in the atmosphere.  Since CFLs consume less electricity than conventional incandescent bulbs, they result in less mercury pollution.  In other words, the trace amounts of mercury in CFLs are more than offset by the mercury emissions avoided through reduced energy consumption.  The following factsheet has useful information about mercury in CFLs as well as disposal issues:  www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf

Dimmable and 3-Way CFLs - Many people asked if it's possible to buy dimmable and 3-way CFLs.  The answer is "yes".  Although more difficult to find than general-purpose CFLs, they do exist.  Amazon has a limited selection of 3-way and dimmable CFLs.  You might also try running a search in Google on terms like "dimmable CFL" and "3-way CFL" for other online retailers.

Quality Issues - Several people wrote to say that their CFL bulbs burned out sooner than expected.  Although we're not in a position to recommend specific models or manufacturers, we do recommend that buyers in the U.S. look for the Energy Star logo.  Energy Star is a joint program of the  US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department Agency.  In order to qualify for the Energy Star logo, manufacturers must meet certain quality standards.  In addition, we recommend that you use bulbs in accordance with manufacturer specifications.  For example, don't use a CFL bulb in recessed fixtures unless the bulb was specifically designed for that purpose.

We're happy to report that a few days ago we hit our first milestone:  we logged over 10,000 bulbs changed. In case you're wondering, that represents annual energy savings of about $100,000 and a reduction of well over 1,000,000 pounds in annual greenhouse gas emissions.

We spent a few days enjoying the big green map, but now, as promised, we've rolled back the map and reset our goal.  Now we're shooting for 50,000 bulbs ('cause it's a long road to a billion).

We're very pleased that things are moving along so well.  We thank everyone who has taken the time to be a part of the One Billion Bulbs project.  However, we still need your help to keep things going.  Please think about ways of growing this initiative, like telling your friends, school, church group, etc.  Some folks are already doing this and we appreciate it, but we need more!

With your help we'll be celebrating hitting the next milestone in no time.

I'm happy to announce that we have integrated a world map into our home page.  This was our intent from the beginning but we weren’t sure when we would have time to get this done.

We've been getting such a positive response from around the world that we really wanted to highlight the countries where people were making a difference. 

Welcome to One Billion Bulbs world! (and thanks for coming).

Also - click on any country on the world map to zoom in for a closer look.

Since I last posted, the number of registered OneBillionBulbs.com participants increased almost four-fold from 100 and change registered participants to about 400.  Participants have recorded the purchase of over 6000 CFLs so far.  We're well on our way toward our Phase 1 goal of 10,000 bulbs.

The rapid growth is due in large measure to the fact that a kind soul submitted our story at Digg.com.   Around midnight last night, things really took off.  At one point, OneBillionBulbs.com was one of the top stories on the Digg.com home page, and we were getting one or more new registered participants almost every minute.  It was exciting to see.  Thanks to everyone who saw fit to Digg the story.

As I was checking our stats tonight, I noticed that our stats for Colorado went through the roof.  When I saw that one person, Derek Wilkins, recorded the purchase of several thousand CFLs, I did a double-take.  I sent Derek an email asking him how all of those bulbs are being used.  Here is part of his response: "I am working for an organization in Denver...called Mile High Youth Corps. We do a wide variety of services in the metro Denver area. Recently we began a program where we, the 12 of us involved, go into low income families homes and replace their light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, and change their shower head and sink aerators to low flow units. When we do single family units, each family gets 15 bulbs, and when we do apartments, they get 8."  Derek went on to say in a follow-up email that they have much bigger plans for the future.  This is just the beginning. 

It's great to see that organizations like Derek's are reaching out to donate cost-saving CFLs to low-income households who will really benefit from lower electricity bills.

If you're interested in learning more about Mile High Youth Corps, please visit www.milehighyouthcorps.org.

If you'd like your own personlized banner like the one above for your web site, blog or MySpace page, click here.

I'd like to thank those who have taken time out of their schedules to participate in the OneBillionBulbs.com experiment.  I call it an experiment because, when we started this project, we really had no idea how it would be received.  Our hope was for the site to grow virally through word-of-mouth referrals, blog mentions and so on.  Of course, one always runs the risk of creating a site that doesn't connect with people.  It's gratifying to see that we're starting to gain some traction.

We launched the site on November 21--just a few days before Thanksgiving (for our international visitors, Thanksgiving is a major national holiday in the U.S.).  Given the timing of our launch, it wasn't surpising that very few purchases were recorded during the first few days.  Toward the end of last week, we started to pick up about 10 new participants per day.  So far today (Monday, 12/4/06), 38 new participants have signed up.  With luck, we should cross the 100 member mark before the day is over.

As I write, our participants have recorded the purchase of 754 CFL bulbs.  It's a drop on the bucket with respect to our overall goal, but it's wonderful to see the progress we've made in just a few short days. 

Thanks to everyone who has supported our efforts so far! 

Like most people, I'm generally concerned about the environment and the issue of global warming.  However, the problem of global warming seems so big.  It's natural for one to ask: what can I do about it?  Most people give up and do nothing.  Unfortunately, most leaders and policymakers do the same even though mainstream climate change experts are warning that something must be done--soon.

On a Sunday night in mid July, half-asleep after putting our kids to bed, I heard an expert on a documentary hosted by Tom Brokaw say that if each household in the US changed one standard incandescent light bulb to an energy-efficient compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulb, the result would be equivalent to removing millions of greenhouse-gas-emitting cars from the road.  That one data point cut through the fog of my tiredness. 

The next morning, I wanted to know more.  Had I misheard something?  Is it really the case that the combined effect of millions of people changing a light bulb would be equivalent removing millions of cars from the road? 

After further research, I was convinced that it is true.  Furthermore, I learned that CFL bulbs have another important benefit: they save money.  Although the up-front cost of a CFL bulb is higher than a standard bulb, they last up to ten times longer and they consume approximately 65-76% less electricity than a standard bulb, all while producing the same amount of light.

So, one can save money and do good for the environment by changing a few light bulbs.  What could be easier?   If only more people knew about this, I thought.  A short time later, an idea started to form in my mind.  The idea was to create a website that would educate people about the benefits of CFL bulbs and organize a campaign to get lots of people to change some light bulbs. 

OneBillionBulbs.com is the result of that idea.  The name of the site captures the goal.  Our goal is to get millions of people all over the world to replace a few standard incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient CFL bulbs.  To be sure, the goal is ambitious.  Perhaps absurdly so. And yet, the stakes are high.  Something must be done.

Are you wondering what you can do about the problem of global warming?  OneBillionBulbs.com has an answer: replace some standard incandescent light bulbs with some energy-efficient CFL light bulbs.  Your simple, concrete action will save you money and will be good for the environment. 

Beyond replacing a few light bulbs, participate in the grand OneBillionBulbs.com experiment.  Tell your friends and family about OneBillionBulbs.com.  If you have a blog, mention us.  If you write for a school newspaper, encourage others check out OneBillionBulbs.com.  If you have a website, use some of our free promotional tools on your site.

With enough participation, we can change the world, one light bulb at a time.