Going Green But Feeling Oh, So Blue
by Brittanie in Life and Learning / 02.01.08
Before the new year, Dad and I talked about some issues affecting our environment, specifically my home’s energy efficiency. He suggested I replace my incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones, expressing the fact that if every American household used CFLs we would save enough energy to light a third of America for one year (Energy Star). However, switching from incandescent to fluorescent became more of a hassle than I first expected, and that is why I decided to blog about the importance of lighting. Not only is lighting crucial in our homes, but also on any video production shoot. To the professional or amateur filmmaker, lighting can make or break your mood.
I finally picked up a few CFLs; put one in the lamp above my bed, three next to my front door, two in the kitchen, and one above the breakfast table. I turned them on and off, on and off, on and off. I kept looking at the walls. Everything was blue. “This is not right,” I said to myself. “Why is it so much bluer in here than before?” I turned on an old-school incandescent lamp that I had not yet replaced. “Ah, this is nice,” I thought. “Warm again.” The CFLs cold shade of blue made my apartment look like a tax auditor’s office. And it was at this point that I decided I was not a fan of CFLs. In my room, they created a terrible blue hue that would drive any color enthusiast with all the best intentions to conserve energy to abort the green movement. I decided to return the CFLs and re-replace them with my cherished old incandescent light bulbs. To me, having natural warm color versus cold, harsh blue seemed reason enough not to go green this year.
The next day at work, I discussed this with my co-workers. Keith had had the same experience and also refused to go green by replacing his warm colors for the terribly blue-hued CFLs. We both agreed that blue lights in rooms that should have feelings of warmth and comfort were not kosher. Jason, listening in on our conversation (as owners often do as a tactic to manage their employees), suggested looking into soft white CFLs versus day light CFLs. I was not even considering the idea that CFLs came in different color temperatures, until I flipped over N:Vision’s package and saw this:
The spectrum indicates three different shades of white: soft white, bright white, and day light. Unfortunately, I was shopping at Target which had a very limited variety and only shelved day light bulbs. Home Depot is where I found all three shades, or you can find N:Vision’s entire product line by clicking here.
My first attempt to go green turned my apartment a terrible shade of blue. But after this small piece of information from my office, my home is more friendly to the environment as well as friendly to the eyes, thanks to the widening variety of energy efficient products. Now I can choose my color and save energy too. Dad will be so proud.
You can find more information on CFLs here at Answers.com.
Thanks for the post. I found it to be very helpful- I definitely learned something that I did not know