January 27, 2009

The Future of CFLs

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THE FUTURE OF CFLs….A couple of years ago I went on a binge and replaced a whole bunch of incandescent bulbs in our house with CFLs. Unfortunately, I discovered that their burnout rate was surprisingly high. Out of 20 bulbs or so, I think I had to replace four or five within 18 months. CFL expert Michael Siminovitch confirms that my experience wasn’t just a fluke:

Consumers have an expectation that compact fluorescents will last a very long time — significantly longer than the incandescents that they’re replacing. This is technically achievable. Compact fluorescents can last a very long time. Unfortunately, I think we’ve compromised greatly on quality with many compact fluorescents and these things are not lasting quite as long as consumers have been led to believe. This is an issue.

He says that color and dimming issues with CFLs (which I was aware of before I bought mine) can also be addressed, but only with tighter standards and higher prices. If we got serious about it, though, economies of scale would drive down the price of high-quality bulbs fairly quickly. More here.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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