What if every person replaced two 10-watt incandescents with two LED bulbs? Fifty-seven % of U.S. electricity is pro­duced by burning coal, one of the worst environmental offenders. One pound of coal produces one kilowatt-hour of electricity. Over the life of those two humble LEDs (100,000 hours each), we would reduce U.S. coal consumption by over 1,000 pounds of coal - not to mention the fuel oil, nuclear, and other dirty fuels that generate the other 43% of our electricity. And what if we each convinced one friend to do the same? Talk about your potential for large­scale, long-term change!
        When light-emitting diodes (LEDs) first appeared, their use was limited to a few industrial and high-tech applications. Since LEDs' first foray into the consumer product arena, they have become the most efficient, most environ­mentally friendly lighting choice ever. The biggest, brightest LEDs available (the array bulbs at far right) use only seven-tenths of one watt. The smaller diode clusters for flashlights use so little power it's hard to measure.
        LEDs are rated to shine for 100.000 hours under normal temperature and voltages--that's twenty or more years under normal household usage! LEDs are so rugged you can literally kick them across the room and they still work (we tried it!). Although LED technology is just hitting the home market, it has been thoroughly tested in industrial and commercial set­tings like billboards, scoreboards, archi­tecturaI accents, emergency industrial lighting, and even carnival rides.
        This is not a flash-in-the-pan gimmick. This is the future of lighting. If switching to CFLs can reduce our fossil fuel consumption so effectively, just imagine what LED's can do!