One. And it’s still burning.

This bulb has a pretty impressive history. It’s been illuminating a firehouse in Livermore, CA since 1901. The greenest bulb in the world was made by Shelby Electric Co. who went out of business in 1914. It has become quite a celebrity in its old age, attracting tourists since the 70’s… It even claims an online presence with a website draws about a million visitors a year and features a bulb-cam set up to film it continuously. Livermore firefighters used to swipe it for good luck before leaving on duty and now they don’t dust it for the same reasons. The secret to the bulb’s longevity lies in the fact that it has almost never been turned off in its 107 years and the air-tight seal never let any oxygen in, creating a cold-burning vacuum.

For a full story and facts, check out these links:

LA Times: At 107, Livermore centennial lightbulb is still a real live wire

Official site: Livermore’s Centennial Light

2007 Record: Guinness Book of World Records

Print: Ripley’s Believe it or Not

Wikipedia: Centennial Light

Spending too much on your electricity bills?

Have no fear, Kill-a-Watt is here!

Kill-a-Watt is a wall unit with a large LCD which provides you with information about appliances that are plugged into it. It makes monitoring your electrical usage painless; expenses are viewable by day, week. month or year. It also detects voltage, line frequency, and power factor and estimates the quality of your power. Kill-a-Watt calculates consumption by the Killawatt/hr, as your utility company, which makes figuring out the bill easier.And all that for under $ 20. Find out just how efficient your appliances really are, eliminate energy leeches and put that money towards a weekend trip (or more like current gas prices).

I was researching green energy and came across this great interactive room by room tour with green home tips by Energy Star. By clicking on a room or a blue star, you can learn about how to conserve energy in every corner of your house. Great educational tool for kids, too. It teaches you to be eco-friendly, starting with your own home.