by John McDevitt

Created on: March 08, 2009

How hard is it to change a light bulb? Pollution prevention is a lot simpler than most people think. Common sense solutions, one household at a time, are quick, easy and give immediate results. For instance, a fluorescent bulb six-pack costs less than $20. Replacing half a dozen incandescent light bulbs only takes a few minutes and can save $180 or more in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulbs.

Fluorescent bulbs last up to ten times longer that incandescents, use 75% less energy and give off 75% less heat. Consumers who make the switch will not only see an immediate reduction in their electric bill, they'll also save on summer cooling costs because of the reduced heat load.

It gets better. If every household in the U.S. replaced six incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs, we would save over three and a half billion dollars in energy costs annually. That's enough energy to light 18 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions from the equivalent of nearly five million cars.

American consumers throw away about 4.6 pounds of "trash" per person every day. That adds up to 230 million tons of daily solid waste. We must either burn or find landfills to bury more than 75 percent, less than one-quarter of our waste is recycled.

Each person can make a big dent in these staggering numbers if they embrace the mantra "reduce, reuse and recycle" one small step at a time.

Consumers can reduce their trash output and save money at the same time by buying in bulk, avoiding overly packaged items and minimizing their purchases of single use throwaways. What if more people reached for a washcloth or sponge instead of tearing off a strip of paper towels?

Consumers save money and resources when they use their own bags at the grocery store. Most supermarkets, in an effort to reduce their operating costs, take money off the final tab when customers bring their own bags.

If something can be reused, don't throw it away. Sometimes an item can be made serviceable again. A minor repair can save both time and money. And if people have perfectly good items they neither need nor want, other people can put them to good use.

The Freecycle Network is a worldwide organization made up of thousands of local chapters that promotes reuse of "good stuff" to keep it out of landfills. Their mission is "...to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger

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