CFL Lighting

So, last winter I decided to buy a floor lamp, this nice silver and white one, and I bought a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulb, also known as swirly bulb, for it. It cost a little more to buy than an incandescent bulb, so one might ask why I bought it. Well, mainly because summers get hot. I've noticed that CFL bulbs produce noticeably less heat than incandescent. Beyond just a more comfortable apartment, this means that the lamp wastes less energy and I don't have to work the air conditioner as hard, which in turn is good news if you have to pay for utilities. Lastly, CFL lasts longer than incandescent. If you own your own building and have an extra dollar or so next time you buy light bulbs, I highly recommend CFL.

NiMH Batteries Revisited

So if you've read my blog before, you might know that 7 or 8 years ago, I bought a Game Boy to play my Pokemon game on the go with. I didn't buy regular batteries, though. I decided to pay $27 to buy a set of four nickel metal hydride batteries and a charger so that I wouldn't get stuck without batteries for my game. Well, since then, I've recharged my batteries hundreds and hundreds of times, saving nearly $100 a year with those batteries. Also, two of the first four batteries have been ruined, but only because they went through the wash. My family's been convinced of the real money-saving benefits of rechargeable batteries and now not a single disposable battery passes through the front door. Paired with free utilities, this means I never spend money on batteries anymore and all those hundreds of potential batteries never went to the dump or wherever trash goes out here. I set out to save time, and I wound up saving money and helping the environment in the process. Does the right choice get any easier?