I thought the day would never come. I open up the newspaper and I finally see something positive about Wal-Mart in the press. Most of the time when Wal-Mart is in the news it is about hiring illegal immigrants to clean its stores, or nickel and diming its employees just enough hours so they would not legally have to pay them health insurance, or my favorite….. locking its employees in the warehouse during the night shift. But now finally something positive, Wal-Mart has announced an initiative to save the world, one light bulb at a time. And because it’s Wal-Mart, it could happen.

Wal-Mart is notorious for providing the consumer with the lowest cost products around, and this time they are using their business model to actually help out the environment and save energy. The answer at first seems too simple, buying a compact fluorescent light bulb instead of the incandescent energy wasting bulb. But I do have to admit, such a small change can actually work. For example, the old incandescent light bulb uses a thin filament that provides resistance for the electricity and lights up. The problem with the incandescent bulb is that it is inefficient and produces more heat than it does light and a good portion of the light is ultraviolet, which is not seen with the human eye. The compact fluorescent bulb on the other hand works by going through a chemical reaction rather than heating a filament. A small amount of mercury vapor and argon are contained in the bulb and the electricity excites the gases which react with a phosphorous coating, giving off visible light and barely any heat. Creating a very efficient process that makes a 15 watt fluorescent bulb equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb.

The statistics of making the switch are staggering. The fluorescent bulbs use 75% less electricity than the standard incandescent, lasts 10 times longer and produces 450 pounds of fewer green house gases over the life of the bulb as well as giving the consumer a net savings of $30 per bulb in the long run. The only problem is the initial cost which tend to be anywhere from 5-8 times more expensive, which leads to a common trade off. Will people pay a little more up front for a myriad of savings and benefits in the long run? So far Wal-Mart seems to have an uphill battle. Only 6% of households use fluorescent bulbs, but last year Wal-Mart sold more than any previous year. And now Wal-Mart is pulling out all the tricks to its trade which has in the past brought the price down on everything from microwaves to lawnmowers; lower prices, heavy promotion, more shelf space, better shelf placement and elaborate displays. All in hopes of enabling the consumer to make the simplest and most effective method of reducing energy and helping the planet, just by changing a few light bulbs.

For more info:
New York Times
How Stuff Works

~Michael Pencille