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At a governmental, business and personal level, it has never been more important to adopt environmentally friendly practices. We are already seeing the consequences of climate change and it's only going to get worse, unless we do something about it. This means we need to reduce our carbon emissions and therefore our overall carbon footprint. When thinking of carbon emissions, you may immediately think of transportation but this is just a direct example. Everything from switching on a light to ordering a product online or throwing away rubbish will increase your carbon footprint. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can reduce this and therefore lessen the load which is being placed on the environment. It may surprise you that a simple change in the bulbs that you use can actually have a profound effect. There has been a pretty successful campaign within the UK over the last decade or so to urge people to swap their standard incandescent bulbs for energy saving fluorescent alternatives. Many business and home owners now use fluorescent bulbs but there have been complaints along the way. Energy saving bulbs tend to emit a dull light which pales in comparison to the bright incandescent lighting that we are used to. The colour of the light which is given off by fluorescent bulbs has also been a problem. With the majority of people accustomed to a warm yellow-based light, energy saving bulbs usually emit more of a white, approximation of day light, which has not been popular due to its clinical nature. With this in mind, many people have been looking for another type of bulb which is aesthetically pleasing and energy efficient, LEDs fit the bill perfectly. LED lights use a whopping 90% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs. This means they are even more energy efficient than fluorescent bulbs. Furthermore, LED bulbs have an average lifespan of 50,000 hours, so if you're using your bulb around 12 hours a day it can last you up to 11 years. This is much longer compared to the lifespans of incandescent bulbs (2,000 hours) and fluorescent bulbs (10,000 hours). So as well as being the most energy efficient and long lasting, LED lights are also favoured thanks to the type of light they emit. The lights themselves are bright and can be purchased in a wide range of colours. They are also smart technology compatible and can be controlled via remote with functions such as dimming, colour changing, and strobing. So, if LED bulbs are the way forward, why aren't they being used in every business and home? Traditionally, LEDs were fairly expensive and this put many people off as it could take a while to recoup your initial investment. LED's could also be complicated to install, yet another reason why they haven't been fully embraced. Fortunately, the technology behind this lighting has advanced dramatically in recent years. The consequence of this is that the bulbs themselves are much cheaper to buy and many can be installed like any other type of light. It's likely that we are going to see a shift from incandescent and fluorescent bulbs to an LED alternative, an improvement on both. Changing the lighting within your home or workplace may not seem like a big step but it can actually make a huge difference. LED's normally use only a tenth of the power that standard light bulbs do. If you make this change, you will not only be reducing your carbon footprint but will also be saving money. If everyone made this change, the impact on the environment could be significant.