Candles are 10 times worse for the environment than light bulbs

comments from our community

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  Posted by justanotherday Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:33pm PDT

  dude, haven't u heard of wax candles -- y'know, kind that abraham lincoln & thomas jefferson & galileo & millions of really smart & successful ppl for hundreds of years used? tech is great & all, but it's not required for every last thing good in the world.

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  Posted by UnePetiteEtoile Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:00pm PDT

  I like the focus of the article, but the title is misleading. Not *all* candles emit the same levels of toxins. I have bought - and made - candles with all natural soy wax that is derived from soy beans grown by American farmers. Soy candles leave virtually no soot, they last longer than paraffin candles and they come from a renewable resource. Yes, paraffin comes from crude oil....but soy does not.

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  Posted by bresseyn Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:12pm PDT

  It's been a long cold winter and none of the heat given off by my incandescent light bulbs went to waste. The furnace just didn't turn on as often and I could actually see.

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  Posted by SimLeee Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:53pm PDT

  I agree- there is more than one kind of candle. But why burn candles? Take a night time walk- having dinner on the patio- have a family meeting about what Earth Hour is all about- why bring so much negativity into the picture when we are trying to do something positive?

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  Posted by MacGyver Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:54pm PDT

  Try palm wax; it's not petroleum based, it's not sooty, it burns clean, and it's a renewable resource.

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  Posted by sheez Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:01pm PDT

  Ummmm...paraffin candles ARE wax candles, justanotherday. Those are the type of wax candles generally used by Abe and Tom and all those folks back in the day. However, there are Soy candles, which emit less toxins, and work just as well, as UnePetiteEtoile has pointed out.

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  Posted by COUCH Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:03pm PDT

  And yes, that sounds lovely, but the candle is not saving any energy, it's just making the world a little softer for one evening. And, hopefully, it will remind us of the gifts that technology brings us, so maybe we can not take them for granted quite so much. What does he mean it will not save any energy? How many bulbs on the Eiffel tower again? How many watts will that save in an hours non-use? He said 40 candles equals 1, 40 watt bulb...if millions of households use say 3 candles for an hour instead of 3 light bulbs (120 candles) I am guessing no one will light 120 candles for their home...the combined energy savings should be big...now imagine if the world, aside from lifesaving situations, shut down one hour a day? That is the dedication we need, that and much much more.

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  Posted by Ric Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:16pm PDT

  Hi everyone...not trying to get personal for or against greens or those whom deny...I would just ask you all to crack a book Collapse, by Jared Diamond. You will educate yourselves on the topic of human impact on environment (guess what..there WAS deforestation 1000 years ago...it's not just a hydrocarbon man phenomenon AND...the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago...it probably wasn't light bulbs and car engines that caused that warming)

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  Posted by bubblesbakery Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:23pm PDT

  Natural is the best. Natural candles of course are the best, organic food is the best. Don't you deserve the best? Doesn't your planet deserve a chance to heal itself? Live gently with love and joy. A quiet hour will do your soul good whether you believe in global warming or not. I spend my life making all natural healing products for herpes so I spend a lot of time searching for the best alternatives for health and life. And it is worth it! www.coldsore911.net

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  Posted by Martha Jane Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:24pm PDT

  Dude, read yer science book. The earth is round, which is not "liberal" or "conservative." From Wikipedia: The majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is primarily caused by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The conclusion that global warming is mainly caused by human activity and will continue if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced has been endorsed by more than 50 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences,the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Meteorological Society, the International Union for Quaternary Research,and the Joint Science Academies of the major industrialized and developing nations explicitly use the word "consensus" when referring to this conclusion.

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  Posted by Jackie H Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:24pm PDT

  What about BEESWAX Candles! They emit negative ions while burning that actually clean the air.

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  Posted by John B Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:28pm PDT

  parrafin is wax, smarty pants

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  Posted by joelpotter@sbcglobal.net Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:31pm PDT

  Hmm were replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFLs that are filled with mercury. Where is all this mercury going to end up ? The local landfill where it will pollute are soil and water supplies. We need a different solution. Maybe LEDs.

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  Posted by Kristen Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:38pm PDT

  Dude, why do you need candles at all? Haven't you ever heard of daylight savings time? It's still light here at 8:30.

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  Posted by Dan S Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:40pm PDT

  You can't really compare the bulbs and candles because there is a different ratio of heat and light given off for the amount of energy used. i.e candles produce a greater ratio of heat to light than bulbs hence having to burn more for the same amount of light, and yet creating a lot more heat.. Fine in winter but not so great here in Florida in Jualy/August

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