Kids and Their Relationship With The Earth

While over at Beliefnet.com, I was reading an interesting article about how you can help your child become green and understand their relationship to the earth.

Anyone with children in their home, knows how busy the household is. There never seems to be enough time in a day to do everything. In most households where both parents work it is hard to fit everything in. You come home from work and need to do chores, make dinner, take care of homework etc.., there doesn't seem to be time left over before it's bedtime and then start over. Sound familiar?

Taking a few minutes each night or on the weekends to do the below suggestions, not only will improve the quality time with your kids, but you will be creating lasting memories.

* Have your child plant a seed or help with the garden. Have your kids nurture what they planted and watch it grow.

* Appreciate the beauty that surrounds you and/or listen to what you hear in nature. Stop and listen to the birds singing, look at the rain, the geese flying overhead, the lake, the sunsets.

* Plan a meal or two with your kids. Involve them in the meal preparation. Have them pick out some ingredients. Take them on a special shopping trip to the market.

* Try to have your child spend less time watching TV, being on the Internet or playing video games. Offer other interesting alternatives. Reading a book. Beliefnet.com offered the idea of reading 50 Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth

* Do some arts and crafts with your child. Use some old buttons and jewelry that you may have laying around.

* Have you ever had a simple conversation about the circle of life with your child? Explain nature. Why do the leaves turn colors? When do deer come out to feed?

* Feel great and be healthy. Be silly. Laugh. Dance around or sing. Do some stretching exercises.

* Make some memories by feeding the animals. Remember as a child you took the crust from the bread or the old bread mom wanted to throw away and you fed the birds? I have this memory. My grandmother and I used to hang out the window and throw the bread. We'd watch the birds hurry to eat it all.

* Get outside. Breathe the air. Do some outdoor activities. Walk the dog together.

How do you teach your children about the earth?

Farmers and Ranchers: Good For The People

The American Farmers and Ranchers of today produce an abundance of food, fiber, flowers, fish, forest products, forage and fuel. The American consumers are offered these products at prices that are among the lowest in the world. We do export some of these products, which helps feed people around the globe.

It is said that one American farmer produces enough food to feed more than 144 people. Most of the food we eat is produced right in the United States, so we are not paying other countries to send it to us.

Other countries are not as abundant in soil and water as the US, but we really need to protect out natural resources and not take them for granted. It is as simple as this: If natural resources are depleted at a faster rate than they can replenish themselves, they eventually disappear.

American farmers and ranchers understand that concept and use soil and water conservation practices. There are about 2 billion acres of land in the US. That breaks down to being about 70% privately owned land and most of that land, 1.4 billion acres, is managed by ranchers and/or farmers. More than 92 million acres of land, is privately developed and much of it is owned by homeowners.

We ALL benefit when private landowners care for natural resources because it will ensure that we will have cheap, plentiful food and clean water. So ALL people should help the farmers and ranchers care about these resources.

The farmers and ranchers have made a difference. With help from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, they have reduced the annual soil loss from 5.1 billion tons in 1982 to 1.8 billion tons in 2001. Controlling erosion keeps the land productive and reduces the amount of soil, pesticides, fertilizers and other substances that pollute our water.

Farmers and ranchers have also been helping with the Nation’s energy supply by producing and utilizing renewable resources. They have been using wind and solar energy for years! By producing crops ( corn, wheat, soybeans sugarcane), which contribute to 2 types of biofuel – ethanol and biodiesel, we can find an alternative fuel products instead of pure gasoline.

Things Made With Products Provided by American Farmers and Ranchers
1) Corn provides; food, plastic, cooking oil, cattle feed, diapers, sweeteners, de-icer, packing peanuts, ethanol and cleansing products.
2) Soybeans provide: food, cooking oil, cattle feed, ink, paint stripper, crayons, lubricants, candies, engine oil, hand cleaner, nail polish remover, hair care products, adhesives and biodiesel fuel.
3) Rice provides: food, cattle feed, dog food, Japanese wine
4) Cotton provides: bandages, cooking oil, paint, paper and clothing
5) Pigs provide: bacon, ham, sausage, pork chops, hot dogs and leather
6) Cows provide: milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, steaks, hamburgers, beef jerky, leather, film coatings. Medicine and piano keys
7) Trees provide: lumber, turpentine, paper, solvents, oils, medicine, syrup, nuts, mulch, film, chewing gum, nail polish, rocket fuel, make up, tooth brushes and food additives

Fun Cow Facts:
· In one day, 1 cow produces 5.4 gallons of milk or 2 lbs of butter or 4.6 lbs of cheese
· A typical dairy cow weighs 1400 lbs and produces more than 46 lbs of milk per day
· In one day, 1 cow consumes 35 gallons of water, 20 lbs of grain and 35 lbs of hay & Silage
· And for the environment: each dairy cow produces 100 lbs of manure each day.

Agricultural products are very important in our lives and we need to conserve, sustain and improve our natural resources for the future.

You can visit Federal conservation programs at http://offices.usda.gov/. or http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/.

Thank you to all the farmers and ranchers.

Source: For the Good of the People / NCRCS
United States Conservation Service

Can We Reinvent America?

Michael Tchong started an interesting and meaningful conversation by way of his post at Ubercool.com and invites us all to join in.

He speaks about Reinventing America...can we do it? In this time of 'change', can we group together and come up with ideas and solutions to improve this country?

We have so many issues to deal with at once. Our economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the outrageous cost of education, global warming, an infrastructure that is crumbling around us and American workers with uncertain futures.

All these issues are being talked about in one place. What are your thoughts? Your opinions on how we can change or reinvent America? Do you think our new President will be able to tackle all these issues and be successful?

Be Water Smart

To many, water seems to be plentiful and cheap. We turn on our fauets and leave the water running and running. But in reality, water is becoming limited.

Only 2.5 percent of the water on earth is considered fresh water. A small percent is available to us through lakes, rivers and streams. And, this unfornuately is in danger of drying up or becoming polluted.

If we become water smart and develop habits to save water, we can help this potential problem.

Tips to save water:

> Turn off water while brushing your teeth

> Buy a low flow toliet

> Take shorter showers, avoid taking baths

> Plant drought tolerant plants

> If you must water plants and your lawn, do so in the early morning and avoid misting sprinklers

> Use soaker hoses

> Sweep and don't hose down driveways, paths and patios.

> Refill reusable bottles with filtered water instead of buying bottled water

> Eat less meat. Did you know that to produce a quarter pound beef patty, it requires as much as 2,900 gallons of water according to Cornell University researchers.


Source: Live Right Magazine

How Green Are Exfoliants?

Exfoliants skin care products are very popular. I'm sure some of you use them like I do. My daily face wash contains micro beads that exfoliants.

Exfoliants comes in two forms: chemical and physical. Chemical exfoliants use...well... chemicals to dissolve the dead cells sitting on the surface of the skin. Physical exfoliants use abrasives to scrape way those cells.

According to FoxNews.com there are no required studies for personal care products and there are no safety systems in place, nor governing bodies overseeing the industry.

The ugly side of the beauty industry is money?
Most of the chemical peels use natural ingredients to eat away the dead skin. It does leave the skin with newer, healthier skin on the top layer.

There are few adverse effects on the environment, but they do leave people who use these types of exfoliants with a higher risk of sunburn and associated skin cancers.

Because of this, many now come with sunscreen built in. Many of the petroleum based sunscreens do have bad environments effects. The worse are the preservatives used, such as parabens and phthalates, which can disrupt reproduction.

With physical exfoliants, such as microdermabrsion, aluminum oxide crystals are used. These are harmless to humans, but after we're done washing our face, these crystals go down the drain, into sewers and into our water. These crystals are highly toxic to many species of aquatic organisms. In fish, the metal has been linked to birth defects, increased mortality and other complications. They also cause stunted root growth in plants.

Aluminum is regarded safe for humans in low quantities, except those on kidney dialysis and there may even be a link to Alzheimer's disease.

The manufacturing of these products releases tiny particles in the air, which can scar lung tissue and have led to tumors in animals.

Good news for our skin and our planet is there are many all organic products to chose from.

Convert Your Car to Burn Water & Gas ?

Did you know that you can convert your car or truck to a water-burning vehicle (Water Hybrid)?

I came across this interesting article and with the prices of gas these days, who wouldn't want to do this and save a ton of money? Has anyone tried this method? If so, has it worked and was it very complicated?

Converting your car to burn water and gas is a Do-It-Yourself, affordable and simple technology.
Water is supplemental to gasoline or diesel fuel.It is said that you can double fuel economy and many more people said they have doubled or even tripled their mileage.

Too good to be true?

I don't know...it is said to be very simple to install and/or remove.

It's suppose to boost the performance of your vehicle while preventing smog and generate free energy in your car or truck.

You don't change your engine or computer. A quart-size (95O cc) container is placed somewhere under the hood. You fill it with dostilled water and a little bit of baking soda. The device gets vacuum and electricity (12 Volts) from the engine, and produces HHO gas (Hydrogen+Oxygen
The electrical connection is very simple - this company eliminated the need to use relays or any other complications. The device connects to the 12 Volts of your battery via the ignition switch, to prevent hydrogen production when the engine is off. The device is fuse protected and draws very little current, only 1-3 Amps. This could take 10 minutes or less to connect.

Well, if you are interested in converting your car to burn water and gas and save some money, check out it HERE.

Please let me know if you try this and how it works for you.

A Little Gas Humor

Climate Change: Long Term Effect on Water Supplies

The American Water Works Association gives a less than perfect picture of the effects of shifting global weather conditions on the United States and the world.

Some of their findings include:

· Precipitation will be less frequent but more intense, leading to increased flooding

· Periods of drought will increase, leading to increased risk of forest fires.

· Increased drought, flood and forest fires will negatively affect water quality. Drought increases sediment in reservoirs, while floods and forest fires can overwhelm downstream water sources with an onslaught of debris.

· Changes in snow pack, the melt season and run off will aggravate storage capacity deficiencies. This will then push water utilities to invest in increased storage capacity.

· Rising sea levels will cause salt water to intrude upon freshwater aquifers.

The report recommends that we create new water sources through recycling and desalination, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging conversation, and factoring the effects of climate change into long term planning.

Everyone just needs to pitch in with the many ways one can help our environment. We can make a difference

Drugs in Our Water?

I do not regularly read the newspaper, but today someone left a copy sitting in front of me. A headline caught my eye, so I had to read the story. The headline read…’Drugs in water danger viewed as minimal’…what? Drugs in our water?

The article went on to say that the effect of prescription drugs in our drinking water is not known, but it is not likely a threat. Well, if the effects are not known, how and who says it is not threat? It continued with stating for the majority of people it is probably not a threat, but elderly and pregnant women could be more sensitive. The Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute at Rutgers University needs to determine whether or not there are areas where the concentrations of prescription drugs in the water are higher than just trace amounts.

A five month study was conducted and it showed that trace amounts of prescription drugs were in the drinking water. Approximately 41 million Americans are affected. The study’s report was released on March 10 and said the drugs detected were antibiotics, pain medications and heart treatments among others.

In northern New Jersey, trace amounts of metabolized angina medicine and the mood stabilizer carbamazepine were detected in the drinking water. In Philadelphia, 56 pharmaceuticals and byproducts were found in the city’s drinking water.

Prescription drugs are said to get into the water by people dumping unused drugs down the drain and medicine not completely metabolized and leaving through the human body waste. Also if a water supply uses surface runoff as a source can also contain trace prescription drugs. Chemical treatments are not able to remove all the prescription drug traces.

So…is our water even remotely safe to drink? What were your thoughts after reading this post?

Makes me feel uncomfortable knowing our water might not be as safe as I thought

Fast Facts

For every 1, 000 watts (1 hour) of electricity saved, we can eliminate the following:
* 20 tons of Carbon Dioxide
* 130 Pounds of Nitric Oxide
* 101 Pounds of Mercury

To give you an idea of what the above actually means. They are the equivalent of:
* Planting 6 acres of trees
* Taking 4 cars off the road
* Not driving 48,948 miles

Source: NJ Solar Power
Figures over 30 years

Bottled Water vs. Tap Water

Which one do your prefer? It seems this is a question with many different answers as to why one likes either bottled or tap water. Personal reasons, scientific or aesthetic reasons.

Water comes from many different sources. It can come from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs and wells and the treatment process for each source varies. When water travels over the surface of land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals. The water can also pick up various substances that have been touched by human or animal activity.

When tap water is treated, necessary chemicals are added to combat any contaminants and/or bacteria.
Tap water is highly regulated by State and the Environmental Protecting Agency (EPA). As a result, you can be sure that your water meets or surpasses all state and federal guidelines.

On the other hand, the State Health Department and the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) regulates bottled water. The FDA sets limits like the EPA, but there are differences with process controls. Such as bottling controls, sampling protocols and testing frequencies. Bottled water is not environmentally friendly.

It takes millions of gallons of oil to produce the plastic bottles used for bottled water each year. After the water is consumed, the bottle is usually recycled and end up in the garbage where it takes years to break down. Many cities and towns are taking an active role in educating their residents about the environmental aspects of plastic containers

Although one may feel that bottled waters' main value is the convenience, but isn't it just as easy to fill a water bottle with tap water? What is the biggest difference? The cost of course. Americans have spent approximately $15 billion on bottled water in 2006 alone. Tap water is much less expensive at approximately $.08 to $8.00 per gallon, but the average cost of tap water is about $.02 per gallon.

You could refill a water bottle hundreds of times with tap water for the cost of a single bottle of bottled water.
So maybe the choice is purely a personal one?

Education here regarding the facts and environmental issues may help consumers think twice about bottled water.

Go Green with LED Christmas Lights

Now that Thanksgiving is over, our thoughts turn to decorating for Christmas. If you are like me, you have a few old tangled Christmas light sets packed away. Each year I would have to unpack each strand and plug them in to see if they're still working.

This year my home will be going 'green'. My old incandescent lights are not only old, but inefficient and bad for the environment. My choice this year will be to purchase LED Christmas lights. These lights will use less energy than the standard incandescent lights and last more than 50,000 hours.

They are constructed to be more durable, don't break as easily and don't contain that filament as my other lights do. I won't have to be concerned with over loading my electrical circuit breakers or worried about any fire issues because these LED lights are cool to the touch. The way incandescent lights work is electricity runs through the filament. Because the filament is so thin, it offers a good bit of resistance to the electricity, and this resistance turns electrical energy into heat. The heat is enough to make the filament white hot, and the "white" part is light. The filament glows because of the heat -- it incandesces

I also learned that if 20% of households switched to LED Christmas lights for the holiday period (averaging 30 days) it would conserve enough energy to power 200 households for an entire year. That is an amazing stat.

The famous Rockefeller Christmas tree in New York City will also be going green.This year, the tree will be decked out with 30,000 LED lights as opposed to the traditional incandescent bulbs to save energy and our environment.

Our environment issues cannot be ignored and with these small changes, we all can do our part to help save our environment. Join me and go green this year.

Building Green

On October 15th - Blog Action Day, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone's mind: Our Environment

I have already included several posts on this blog concerning our environment. From tips to save in your daily life to curb your carbon footprint to green news around the world.

Today's post is regarding tips for Building Green.

To determine how to incorporate green building you need to look at your goals. Is a family member sick or do you want to reduce your utility bills or are you just concerned with the state of our environment?

Don't overbuild~ Build to meet the needs of your family and this will reduce the cost of building and reduce the cost to operate and maintain your home. This will have an impact on your finances and the environment.

Design with minimal waste~ Building a house with 2 foot modules will help reduce waste. Most building materials are manufactured in two foot increments, so using value engineering will reduce the amount of material waste. Producing less waste on your building site, will reduce disposal costs. The National Association of Home Builders Research Center recommends framing 24 inches on center rather than 16 inches on center.This alone will save about 30% of the framing studs.

Placing the water heater and HVAC unit centrally in the home will reduce the amount of material needed to carry the best heat and water to its destination and will increase the efficiency of the units by reducing the amount of energy to get there.

Make homes efficient~ Designing to conserve resources during the life of the building is considered green. Use the maximum amount of insulation recommended for your geographic area. Use water saving features.

Use recycled or recyclable materials~

Build recycling centers in homes~

Find a green builder who use equipment software to test and simulate a building's performance. You can use the following resources to learn about green building programs, professional and incentives available:
www.eere.energy.gov/consumer
www.energystar.gov

Source: Business Education Guide

More on Green: Green Medicine

Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Massage Nutritional Counseling and Yoga are just a few "green" alternatives to conventional medical treatments.

While it is valuable to visit your family doctor for diagnostic technologies, you also have the option of going for green treatments before using pharmaceuticals or more invasive medical procedures.

Green medicine is a move towards more biologically friendly techniques that work with the body's natural ability to heal. These treatments are gentler for the individual and for the planet.

Have you ever tried alternative medicine?

From the Dentist's Chair to Our Water

Dentists and Mercury:
The most common use of mercury in dental operations is in dental amalgam. An amalgam being a mixture or blending of mercury with another metal. Amalgams are commonly used in dental fillings. It is made up of approximately 40 to 50% mercury, 25% silver and 25 to 35% mixture of copper, zinc and tin.

Amalgam particles enter wastewater from dental offices when dentists remove old fillings or place new fillings. Estimates of the contribution of mercury in wastewater from dentists range from 11% to 80%.

In a recent survey of seven major wastewater treatment plants in California, Minnesota, Ohio and Maine, dentists were identified as the largest contributors of mercury. There have been more than 20 studies from Europe, Canada and the US that identify the dental industry as the leading source of mercury to sewer systems.

Mercury contaminates our environment, therefore threatens public health and threatens the fishing industry.

Publicly owned treatment works are looking for ways to reduce metals at the source and meet stricter limits using cost effective pollution prevention.

More Green News

Vatican City Goes Solar : A giant rooftop garden of solar panels will be built next year on top of the Paul VI audience hall. This will create enoughe lectricity to heat, cool abd light the entire building year round.

Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News joins the fight against climate change. In May of this year, he pledged not only to make his News Corp empire carbon neutral, but to persuade the hundreds of millions of people who watch his TV channels and read his newspapers to join the cause.

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, launched a campaign last fall to sell 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs. They also have plans to install solar on many of their stores.

Source: Business Education Guide

Green News

Bank of America made a 10 year commitment to lend $18 billion to commercial clients committed to constructing green buildings and developing sustainable products and services. The remaining funds will be used to develop consumer programs. This would include incentives for purchasing merchandise or investing in companies committed to green house gas reduction.

PesiCo announced a 3 year purchase of renewable energy certificates that are comprised of more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours annually, to offset 100% of purchased electricity used by all PesiCo US facilities.This purchase has put PepsiCo in the list of top 25 green power purchasers.

GOOGLE Solar: Google installed the largest commercial system in the US to date. The worlds leading provider of solar cells is Sharp. They have installed the solar modules at Google's corporate headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Roof mounted arrays were installed and also two carports for their employees to park. If any employee has a plug in hybrid they can also recharge their cars.

Source: Business Education Guide

The Impact of Car Washing

Are you aware there are acute impacts of driveway car washing?

Water from residential driveway or fund-raising car wash events is allowed to run down the street or parking lot and into the nearest storm drain. This wastewater may carry detergent, traces of metals and small amounts of fuels and auto fluids. This water goes untreated and right into the nearest stream. This has the potential to harm fish and other marine life in the streambed.

There were two practical fish toxicity tests done in Seattle Washington. The first one ran from August 28 to Sept 1, 2006 and used water collected from a fundraiser car wash at a commercial auto service location. The second test done was from November 29 to December 3, 2006 and used a consumer car wash detergent. Juvenile rainbow trout were used in both tests. The tests produced similar results. The first test indicated a percent concentration that was lethal to 50% of the test organisms, the second test indicated 3%.

Other research indicated that detergents as a rule will destroy fish mucus membranes and gills. Natural oils may be washed away, affecting oxygen uptake by the gills. Other freshwater organisms living in streams would also be affected.


Source: Stormwater magazine

The Best Green Energy ~ ZERO Carbon

I have been reading alot about "carbon footprint" and how we can reduce our own footprint to help save our planet. I have even blogged about it here to give my readers ideas on how you can become involved. If we would take an interest and apply ourselves, it will make a difference.

Look at the below press release. British Gas has developed this unique and one of a kind green energy tariff. ZERO Carbon ~ meaning that you wouldn't leave a carbon footprint from the energy British Gas supplies to you. For just a extra few dollars, you could offset 100% of your homes carbon emmissions.

Shouldn't more companies adopt this concept?

Press Release:

BRITISH GAS LAUNCHES GREENEST ENERGY TARIFF

9 August 2007: British Gas has announced it is launching two new green energy tariffs, Zero Carbon, which will be the greenest tariff available on the domestic market and Future Energy. British Gas has launched the tariffs, in response to the increasing demand for green energy products.

Householders signing up to the Zero Carbon tariff will:
• reduce their household energy carbon emissions to zero through Kyoto compliant offset schemes which will meet the new Defra requirements
• help fund a direct increase in investment in renewable energy generated in the UK
• contribute to the new British Gas green fund which will:
o invest in developing new renewable technologies such as wave power
o oversee a programme to help schools in the UK reduce their CO2 emissions

Gearóid Lane, Managing Director British Gas New Energy said,”Our new tariff responds to consumer demand for truly green energy solutions. It is essential that customers have confidence in green energy tariffs and that their credibility is not damaged by tariffs that claim to be green but in reality do not deliver any incremental environmental benefits. Green tariffs are moving from niche to mainstream products and we’re leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available.”

Under the government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), electricity suppliers in the UK are already required to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity through methods such as wind farms which, unlike traditional power plants, produce zero carbon emissions. For 2007/2008 this figure is set at 7.9%.

In a recent report, the National Consumer Council (NCC) raised concerns that some energy suppliers are packaging electricity which is produced under the RO scheme as “green”, yet it delivers no additional environmental benefits. The NCC called on energy suppliers to take steps beyond their legal requirements and offer green energy tariffs that provide genuine additional environmental benefits, in particular CO2 emissions reduction.

British Gas worked with Global Action Plan and The Climate Group’s “We’re in this Together” campaign to develop Zero Carbon which goes further than any other green tariff in meeting these requirements offering consumers the only zero carbon option on the market.

The tariff carries a premium of £84 per year, reflecting the higher cost of producing energy through lower carbon emission schemes.

Virginia Graham, Chair of Global Action Plan, said, “The British Gas Zero Carbon tariff delivers on all three of the essential requirements of a green tariff which are: additionality, transparency and verifiability. As such it is a very welcome new offering in the market. Consumers signing up to the tariff can be confident that they are getting 12 per cent more renewable energy than they would otherwise have got. The carbon emissions from their electricity and gas will also be offset with emissions reductions from projects accredited by the United Nations.”

Zero Carbon is one of the first initiatives launched through the ‘We’re in this Together’ campaign, which was launched in April 07 as an alliance of some of the UK’s biggest brands who are all working to help their customers reduce their impact on the climate.

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group and founder of ‘We’re in this Together’ said, “We’re committed to offering people ways to make a real impact on climate change through Together.com. We’ve worked with British Gas to ensure that Zero Carbon is a genuine step forward in delivering more environmental benefits than any other tariff currently available.”

British Gas’s second green energy tariff, Future Energy, offers an alternative green electricity tariff at a premium of just £20 per year. Customers signing up to this tariff will contribute to a green fund which will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to UK schools. Money from the fund will also be invested in development of future renewable technologies and sources.

To sign up customers can call British Gas on 0845 604 0055 or visit www.britishgas.co.uk

Are Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Worth It?

Yes, they are. In fact, they are taking over the shelves at the Home Depot and hardware stores.

According to Fast Company, if every American swapped in just one bulb in their homes, we'd save enough electricity to power all of Delaware and Rhode Island. We'd also cut 1.3 million cars' worth of greenhouse gases!

You will also save $30 over the lifetime of each compact fluorescent bulb you install as per the Environmental Agency.

A CFL bulb runs cool, uses 70% less energy than a incandescent bulb and lasts 14 months or 14 years if used 2 hours a day, according to the manger of Home Depot, Brent Hodgson.

The CFL bulb comes on instantly and emits a warm light that nearly indistinguishable from incandescent light.

So if you are looking to save alittle money, doing something to help cut greenhouse gases, go out and change your bulbs. Helping the enviroment one bulb at a time...

Source: Men's Health