Pepco/Girl Scout Light Bulb Challenge

Since 1912 Girl Scouts have been going green to make the world a better place. Continue the tradition by participating in the Pepco/Girl Scout Light Bulb Challenge - change an incandescent bulb to an energy efficient CFL or LED and track your changes here. With your help Girl Scouts can change 60,000 bulbs!

The April 1 numbers are in and the Association that changed the most light bulbs was Association 14 with 2,119 light bulbs! Congratulations Association 14!

We haven't hit our goal of one bulb for every girl and we want to keep going until we do. So the challenge is still on!

There are light bulbs everywhere - at your house, school, etc. Advocate for your neighbors and local businesses to change their bulbs too! Anyone who hears about the challenge can participate by entering their numbers here. Remember to check the safety warnings on the light bulb boxes and light fixtures as it can be unsafe to use some light bulbs in some fixtures.

Click here to tell us how many light bulbs YOU have changed!! 

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If you have already reported bulbs changed, please only enter the number changed since your last entry, not the total. This will keep us from double counting your numbers
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Lightbulbs changed so far:
This counter updated weekly

Important! CFLs do contain small amounts of mercury - each bulb has about enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen.  The amount in one bulb is not toxic, but it starts adding up pretty quickly, so burned out bulbs should be recycled, not thrown in the trash, and broken bulbs need to be handled carefully. The following links from the EPA provide great information on the proper clean up and disposal of CFL bulbs:

What to do if a fluorescent bulb breaks

Where to recycle burned out bulbs in your area

FAQs about Mercury-containing light bulbs

Did you know?

• If your electricity is produced from coal, each CFL will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,300 pounds over its lifetime.
• If every household in the U.S. replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL, the pollution equivalent of one million cars would disappear.
• On average, an incandescent bulb will consume 82 pounds of coal over its lifespan
• If we hit our goal of 60,000 bulbs changed, we could collectively save over $287,766 in a year, and $2.5 million dollars over the next 3-5 years! Not to mention reducing our carbon footprint.  

Special thanks to Pepco for their sponsorship of the Light Bulb Challenge.