A BRIGHT idea

Good news for base housing residents: the Self Help Store is now offering a limited number of fluorescent lights for use in your homes.

As a pollution prevention P2 measure, the Environmental Flight is encouraging all base residents to switch over to the more efficient fluorescents.

The basis for this change is primarily energy conservation. It is estimated that if every American home replaced one standard light bulb with an “ENERGY STAR” fluorescent device, it would save more than $600 million in annual energy costs.    
There are three very important reasons to switch to fluorescents.

First, incandescent bulbs create large amounts of heat. Many of us have discovered this when we burned a finger while touching a bulb in use.

Secondly, fluorescent bulbs use, on average, 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, which results in a lowering of electricity bills. This benefits both private homeowners and residents of base housing.

Finally, fluorescent lights can last as much as 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs saving money for replacement costs. Look for products that display the “ENERGY STAR” symbol to be sure you are getting a government certified device.

It is the goal of the P2 Program to further reduce electricity costs by eventually replacing all incandescent lights with fluorescent lamps. The most obvious place to do this is in military family housing and this is a goal of Environmental Management.  
Because fluorescent lights contain a tiny amount of heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead, it is important that fluorescents are properly disposed of.

There are several ways for base residents and off-base residents to dispose of these items. One of them is to drop of fluorescent lights at one of the three KMC recycling centers.

With a life span of 10 times longer than conventional bulbs, disposal of fluorescents should be a very infrequent occurrence, but well worth the effort, as we save energy resources and money and benefit the earth.  

Tip: Replace all your incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lights to save money on energy costs. Your old working incandescent lights can be donated to Good Will or the Salvation Army to benefit others. 

(Courtesy of 86th Civil Engineer Squadron)