Dimmer or brighter?

One reason often given for still using incandescent bulbs is the fact that the new energy efficient bulbs do not work with dimmer switches. To be honest, it's a fair point. The counter argument is that you don't need dimmer switches on your lights. The argument that comes back is that we should be able to have what we want rather than just what we need (after all otherwise I guess we would be back in the caves).

My conclusion is that like many hotly debated topics, there is no right or wrong answer. I believe the best we can do is try to minimise our impact, especially as I find caves to be rather dark and cold at this time of the year...

This will be the last post on light bulbs for while, time to talk about something else!

Light bulbs - the cost of manufacture

One of my concerns with the new energy efficient light bulbs is the cost of manufacturing them. When I say 'cost' it includes the money cost and the environmental cost. A traditional incandesant bulb is very simple to manufacture and does not need too much in the way of toxic chemicals. However, the new bulbs are much more complex to manufacture and contain more raw materials and toxic elements. Although the new bulbs do last longer there is then the issue of disposing of them safely.

See the light

The first rule of being micro green is to reduce. My view is that turning lights off when not needed will produce greater savings and I would only recomend CFLs for lights that are left on for long periods of time such as landing lights or outside lights.

The type of light

Becuase they use different methods to create light, incandesent and CFLs produce very different types of light. The CFLs are actually producing a light that is flashing on and off (50 times a second), this can sometimes be seen when these bulbs start to flicker.

Many of these bulbs will not work with dimmer switches which can be a real problem for some people. The light given off by a CFL bulb tends to be a bit whiter and does not have the same warmth as a incandesent bulb.

Wasted heat, or is it?

Traditional incandescent light bulbs work by passing an electric current through a tungsten filament, the resistance of the filament causes it to get very hot and as a by product light is given off.

This of course means that incandescent bulbs waste most of the energy they use as heat. Energy efficient light bulbs are obviously the better choice in this respect, but I have some reservations about the accuracy of the calculated savings.

In the summer when you don't need to heat your home the heat energy is indeed wasted (and may even add to the costs of air conditioning), but in the winter that heat is no longer wasted, it is in fact heating your home for you. My concern is that this fact is often overlooked when people calculate the 'savings' of a energy efficient bulb.

Seeing the light

This is the first in a series of posts all about light bulbs. Sounds a like there's not much to talk about? Isn't it obvious that we should all fit energy efficient light bulbs? Well it's not as simple as you may of first thought. In this series of posts I'm going to publish some arguments for and against energy efficient light bulbs.

Support your country and help the environment

I guess one of modern life's luxuries that we've all become used to is that we can have any type of food from any part of the world regardless of the season. Go into any supermarket at any time of the year and you will see a wonderful range of fruit and veg from all corners of the globe.

Most of you will have probably heard of the term 'food miles'. While its great having fresh foods from all over the world available to us, the problem is how they get from the farm to your dinner table. Aircraft are being used more and more to fly food in, this is great as the food arrives faster and therefore fresher. As ever, there is a catch - flying is expensive in terms of the amount of carbon released.

So here's the dilemma, we want the food but we don't want the impact on the environment. So what can we do?

I believe that we can all reduce our impact on the environment, still have good food (maybe even better) and as an added bonus support your country and local economy. It's easy to do and simple enough that even I can do it. You can start doing it as soon as your next visit to the shops!

So here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Check the labels and look for food that is local or produced in your country
• You don't have to buy everything from local producers, don't feel guilty is some of your food comes from abroad. The key thing is that you start to reduce your food miles, even if it's only a little it all helps.
• Farmers markets - they are becoming more popular these days. Sometimes a bit more expensive (in terms of cash), but you get what you pay for and in my experience the increased quality makes up for it.

So there's a few ideas to get you started. How many of you are reading this thinking that you've got a better idea? You probably have! Share your knowledge and post a comment!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

The 3 R's, these are easy, in fact why not set yourself a target to implement one these ideas before the end of the day!

Reduce - This one is a personal favorite, it's easy and it saves some cash (I prefer to spend my money on fun stuff!). It's all about not using 'stuff' in the first place - do you need to buy those apples packed in the plastic tray wrapped in another layer of plastic? Why not buy them loose? Do you really need to use the car today? If the weather is good why not get some fresh air and walk? With fuel prices constantly increasing this one will certainly save you some of your hard earned cash!

Reuse - all about using 'stuff' more than once. With the modern world becoming increasingly used to the 'disposable' way of life, reuse is all about reversing that lazy trend to throw stuff away. I bet you have some plastic carrier bags somewhere from your last shopping trip, well next time you go shopping why not take them with you and reuse them? Easy!

Recycle - this is the last resort! If you couldn't reduce or reuse then the final option is to recycle. This is very easy these days, most local authorities provide weekly collections of glass and paper from your doorstep. When they have gone to so much trouble to collect and recycle it for you it seems rude not to!

There's plenty of other things you can do, if you've got a good idea then feel free to share it with us all by posting a comment.

Introduction to the MicroGreen Blog

Our planet doesn't need saving, it will do just fine no matter what we do. The fate of planet Earth is linked to the fate of our Sun, as the Sun nears the end of its life it will swell into a Red Giant, so large that planet Earth will be consumed within it. Nothing that humans do now or in the future will change this.

The environment and climate however, must be protected. Pollution causes illness, disease, birth defects, cancer and poisons our food. Small changes in the climate can cause drought, failed crops, rising sea levels, floods and increasing numbers of hurricanes.

Our planet has kindly provided us with many resources, minerals, metals, coal, oil and gas. But the supply is finite, one day these natural resources will be consumed, a fact that cannot be denied.

In this blog I will share my views on governmental action (or lack of) to protect our environment, environmental news, eco gadgets, energy saving tips and products, energy security and peak oil. I look forward to reading any comments that you may have.