Green Living by Janet Marchant: I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

It sure does get dark early at this time of year, which makes it all the more pleasant to see our neighbors' displays of colorful holiday lights. But wait! Do you know how much energy those traditional bulbs use? Neither do I, but I recently learned that high-tech, crowd-pleasing Lovely Electric Device (L.E.D.) lights are much more efficient than any other kind, including candles. Since L.E.D.'s save energy, and thus the environment, it's important to use as many of them as possible.

How much is enough, you ask? Start assembling your holiday display by outlining your entire house: roofline, windows, and all the rest. After that, you might want to branch out and get even more creative. The simple rule of thumb is to keep adding strings of lights until your electricity bill is at least twice the size of last year's. At that point, you'll know that you are using only half the amount of energy that you would have if you had decorated with the old-fashioned kind of lights.

Take my advice, and you can enjoy this holiday season with the warm glow inside that comes from doing everything you can to help our cute little planet.