By Lesley Chilcott, Unscrewamerica.org
When I walk through any store, a little mantra repeats in my head. "Every dollar is a vote... Every dollar is a vote." Sometimes I hear "Waste equals food" as Bill McDonough says but most of the time it's just, "Every dollar is a vote." Now back in 1970 when Earth Day started I think people were thinking more along the lines of use less, rather than buy more, but let's face it, we DO need to buy things. And when we buy, we need to do so more responsibly. So after you've saved energy all day buy using natural light but you find you actually DO need a bedside table lamp, consider what you put in that lamp. In February we launched a little non-profit called Unscrew America. Basically, unscrew your regular energy-wasting light bulbs and screw in more energy-efficient ones like CFLs and LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). We did this because of radical facts like this one; Switching to LEDs could reduce U.S. energy consumption by 10%. That's a rather astounding fact. Memorize it. We also need people to know that when you use CFLs you must dispose of them properly due to their mercury content. We're peddling facts and safety. And we tell you about how to pick bulbs and make some suggestions on where to get them. And did I mention we have a dancing kangaroo on the site?
When I walk through any store, a little mantra repeats in my head. "Every dollar is a vote... Every dollar is a vote." Sometimes I hear "Waste equals food" as Bill McDonough says but most of the time it's just, "Every dollar is a vote." Now back in 1970 when Earth Day started I think people were thinking more along the lines of use less, rather than buy more, but let's face it, we DO need to buy things. And when we buy, we need to do so more responsibly. So after you've saved energy all day buy using natural light but you find you actually DO need a bedside table lamp, consider what you put in that lamp. In February we launched a little non-profit called Unscrew America. Basically, unscrew your regular energy-wasting light bulbs and screw in more energy-efficient ones like CFLs and LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). We did this because of radical facts like this one; Switching to LEDs could reduce U.S. energy consumption by 10%. That's a rather astounding fact. Memorize it. We also need people to know that when you use CFLs you must dispose of them properly due to their mercury content. We're peddling facts and safety. And we tell you about how to pick bulbs and make some suggestions on where to get them. And did I mention we have a dancing kangaroo on the site?
Now, just in time for Earth Day, we decided to actually sell something. These days we all seem to like to wear our issues, so we've just launched Unscrew America t-shirts with the help of our friends at Clothing of the American Mind. The shirts are organic cotton, printed with white water-based non-toxic inks, and are sweatshop-free. Our current edition tee boasts the saying "LEDs ROCK" and you can get them here.
Lesley Chilcott
UnscrewAmerica.org
Huzzah!