Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world.
It is a fairly ordinary item that nonetheless cuts to the heart of a half-dozen of the most profound, most urgent problems we face. Energy consumption. Rising gasoline costs and electric bills. Greenhouse-gas emissions. Dependence on coal and foreign oil. Global warming.
The product is the compact fluorescent lightbulb.
We received a note from Kristina Runciman, president of Lifeforce Glass, a small company in Kingsport, Tennessee, that is a wholesaler of smooth glass stones with inspirational quotes etched on them.
“I was so inspired by the article by Charles Fishman on CFLs that my company is now sending one compact fluorescent lightbulb with every order. We are counting on each customer to try their free CFL and then replace their incandescent bulbs in their homes and businesses,” said Runciman.
“I didn’t really understand how good the bulbs had gotten until I read the article,� Runciman said. “We’re in kind of a spiritual business — if golf is your path, we have a lucky golf stone, if you’re a Christian, we have New Testament scriptures; we love Einstein.
“So my husband and I bought a few of the bulbs for the house, and saw that they worked well.�
Lifeforce is relatively small — less than $1 million a year in revenue — but they’ve already run through Runciman’s initial purchase of 100 CFLs.
“I do like to give back,� she says. “I’m a big believer in tithing. But it’s frustrating to just write a check. By buying them and distributing them to our customers, we feel like we’re really doing something good.�
Tom van Brunschot on April 2nd, 2007 at 9:10 am
“Does it have to be a lightbulb?”
(question and answer taken from the back of the book ‘The Imagineering Way’ by Disney Imagineers)