While human society falls into holiday tradition, the environment continues to suffer.

Holiday lights line blocks of houses, shopping malls, and countless trees. Although they create a festive vibe loved by many, these lights are harmful to the environment. These decorations are not only considered light pollution, but they also use excessive electricity, contributing to global warming. Although this sounds dramatic, any unnecessary use of non-renewable energy adds to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

However, the likelihood of all of society stopping this tradition any time soon is next to none. To minimize the energy and externalities associated with holiday lights, buy and hang LED lights instead of incandescent lights. LEDs produce light without a filament in the bulb, requiring less energy to glow brighter than a normal bulb.

Only turning on the holiday lights for shorter periods of time will also minimize the amount of energy used. Don’t turn the lights on until the sun has set and make sure to turn them off before going to sleep. Putting holiday lights on a timer switch can drastically help with this.
The same ideas go for indoor Christmas tree lights. Use strands of LED bulbs, and do not have them on constantly. Unplugging the light strand of the outlet or turning off the power strip when not in use is also a plus. Even when not on, anything plugged into an outlet will still suck up a considerable amount of energy.

Tips such as these and more have been posted around Blanchet by the school’s student-lead Green Team, and they’re advice should be followed.

Written Dec. 8, 2017.