If you replaced just four 100-watt incandescent bulbs that burn four or more hours a day in your home with four 23-watt fluorescent bulbs, you’d get nearly as much light and save at least 452 kilowatt-hours of electricity and $82 over three years. If all our nation’s households did the same, we’d save as much energy and cut as much pollution as is consumed and emitted respectively by some 7 million cars annually!

That factoid from the Alliance to Save Energy prompted the Alliance to launch a "4 for the Planet" thrust for Earth Day 2000, April 22, the 30th anniversary of Earth Day and the first to focus on only one critical environmental issue – energy and its impact on the environment.

"We urge consumers to make a symbolic first step now for Earth Day 2000 and the new century. Change those four most used light bulbs in your home to benefit the planet and your pocketbook," requests Alliance President David M. Nemtzow. "That small move multiplied by others will reduce home energy bills and decrease pollution and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously"

To jump start "4 for the Planet," OSRAM Sylvania President Dean Langford, co-chair of the Alliance board of directors, donated 400 compact fluorescent bulbs as prizes so there could be 100 more winners in the Alliance’s Earth Day 2000 Web Contest. Featuring a host of home energy-efficient prizes, the Alliance contest has attracted 28,000 entries in its first three weeks. Each of those 100 additional winners would get four compact fluorescent bulbs of various wattage – "4 for the Planet" – so that they could replace four conventional bulbs.

Other energy-efficient prizes include: Whirlpool’s soon-to-debut Conquest side-by-side refrigerator and Resource Saver clothes washer, Andersen Windows high-performance Frenchwood-hinged patio door, Panasonic TV/VCR combo and mini-stereo system, Black and Decker cordless electric mulching lawn mower, Energy Star Torchiere, BULBlite 6-pack with a sampling of compact fluorescent bulbs from various manufacturers, a gift certificate from ENERGYguide.com, $500 gift certificate for insulation from Knauf Fiber Glass, and a king-size Pink Panther from Owens Corning.

As Earth Day 2000 involves half a billion people around the globe and brings unprecedented attention to an issue which has the greatest impact on our environment, Nemtzow notes. "Energy production and use are the prime creators of both air pollution (80 percent) and greenhouse gas emissions (90 percent). In using less energy while providing the same or better service, energy efficiency provides multiple personal and environmental benefits. It cuts energy bills, increases home comfort, and decreases pollution and greenhouse gas emissions."

Funding partners for the Alliance Home $weet Home and Earth Day 2000 campaign include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA).