Our eco-congregations group hold a brief meeting in the vestry on the third Sunday of each month immediately following the service. With the approval of the managing committee we are working on plans to help us reduce our impact on the environment. We want to encourage a sustainable way of life which will help secure the earth for the future.
Each month we hope to offer practical ideas in Oscailt which can be easily put into effect.
One idea which we are working on is to promote the use of low energy lighting. We are making enquiries to see if we might be able to bulk purchase low energy CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) at a discount and sell them on to members of the congregation.
A CFL last up to 15 times longer and uses only about 20% of the electricity of a traditional light bulb.
Only five percent of the energy that goes into a typical light bulb is translated into light. The remainder becomes heat, which means that 95 percent of the energy and cost expended with lighting in mind is actually wasted.
CFLs come in various shapes and sizes and for bayonet and screw in type fittings. A 22 Watt CFL has the same light out output as a 100 Watt incandescent; while an 18 Watt is equivalent to a 75 Watt traditional bulb.
If every traditional bulb in Ireland could be replaced with a low energy bulb the national savings in terms energy required for lighting would be remarkable.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimate that a global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's electricity bill by nearly one-tenth. The carbon dioxide emissions saved by such a switch would dwarf the cuts so far achieved by adopting wind and solar power. According to Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst with the IEA and one of the report's authors, 19% of global electricity generation is taken for lighting.
For the purpose of our bulk buying attempt it is probably best that we try to go for a bulb size and connection type that might be most popular (say 22w bayonet) rather than attempt purchase of a wider selection, but let us see what people have to say in reply to this article.
It would be helpful to know how many bulbs we could expect to sell on. To help us in our efforts please complete the sheet below and hand it to myself or to Kevin after the service and our eco-congregations group will take it on from there.

Thanks
Tony Brady