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Every product we use has consequences for the environment, and light bulbs are no exception.

The term for this is a “Carbon Footprint” and, by switching to LED lights and bulbs to provide your primary source of illumination, you can ensure that yours is as small as possible and that you do minimal harm to the environment, both while your bulbs are in use and during their entire life-time.

The life-time of the LED light bulb is calculated from a moment prior to its manufacture, and includes the extraction of the raw materials that go into its make-up, its total journey from wherever in the world it was made to its destination, its storage, its use and, ultimately, its disposal.

As you can imagine, all of this mounts up, especially given the first point in this list of their considerable environmental benefits in comparison with existing light sources...

LEDs Last For A Very Long Time

This is very true and means that, during the 50,000 hour or 17.12 year expected life-span of an LED light bulb, it would have serious potential to damage the environment. Indeed, that’s exactly what happens in the case of traditional bulbs, so it’s probably a good job that CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) last only 1/6^th as long, and Incandescent bulbs fizzle out after just 1,200 hours!

For every light bulb that fails, materials and energy are required to manufacture a replacement. As they’re so much longer-lasting, LED bulbs help conserve our natural resources and reduce the necessity for replacements.

Fortunately, despite their extremely long life-span, LEDs have very little environmental impact, and that’s partially due to the next point on this list, which is that...

LEDs Require A Lot Less Electricity

By now, it’s pretty common knowledge that LEDs use a lot less electricity than their halogen and incandescent counterparts. As most of the electricity we use is generated through the burning of fossil fuels, there’s a direct correlation between the amount of electricity we use and the levels of CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) entering the atmosphere.

Turning on an LED light bulb requires less electricity and therefore produces less CO₂ than lighting a regular bulb.

In fact, if every household in the UK replaced just one of their traditional bulbs with an LED, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 176,210 cars off the road or planting 447 million trees per year, so that can’t be bad, right?

LEDs Contain No Harmful Elements

Unlike CFLs, LEDs don’t require any harmful chemicals to produce their light.

CFLs contain Mercury vapour which, if they become damaged, can be released into the environment, causing ecological harm. Avoiding breakages and damage is therefore of paramount importance, but isn't always within our control.

Disposing of CFLs in an appropriate manner entails a lengthy and energy-intensive process to recapture the Mercury, which ultimately increases the environmental impact of the bulb.

Unfortunately, whilst it is possible to recycle CFLs, the cost of doing so is quite prohibitive.  This isn’t the case for LED bulbs, as...

LEDs Are 100% Recyclable

Unlike incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, both of which are a nightmare to recycle, and generally end their lives in landfill sites, LED bulbs are eminently so, being covered by the WEEE (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment) regulation.

This means that when your LEDs are finally spent, you can return them to your manufacturer or retailer free-of-charge and they’ll see to it that they’re disposed of correctly. Either that, or you can simply bag them up and put them into your home recycling bin to be reclaimed and reused in the manufacture of even more LED lights!

With the incredible range of LED bulbs that’s now available, it’s never been easier to make the switch over to low-impact LED light for your home or business. Not only will you benefit the environment, but you will also benefit yourself with a substantial reduction to your utility bills and a much clearer conscience.

If you’d like to chat about switching over to eco-friendly LED lighting, why not give one of our customer service agents a ring today on 0116 321 4120. Or, if you’d prefer, you can send us an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk.