Dreaming of a green Christmas

There's a moment you know Christmas has arrived; perhaps it's the perpetual background din of Boney M and festive baubles in the mall, or plastic holly and iced fruitcake adorning storefront windows; for many, it's the merry twinkling of hundreds of bright lights.

Whether daintily draped over banisters or twisted into elaborate sleigh-and-reindeer creations, lights are as much part of Christmas as trees and tinsel. But, while it adds warmth and festive cheer, it also guzzles a fair bit of energy, and emits its share of CO2 emissions.

Now, I'm the first to admit to revelling in the traditions Christmas time brings. Yet, at the risk of sounding like the Grinch, it's worth at least considering the benefits of going green globe-wise this festive season, if not for the environment, then for your pocket.

Of course, light displays vary in intensity - some feel a swirl of starry bulbs wrapped around the tree is sufficient, while others festoon window panes, roofs, garage doors and fences with metres of pulsing, glowing tubes. The UK's Energy Saving Trust reveals that a string of 100 Christmas tree lights used for 10 hours a day generates enough CO2 to fill five party balloons every day.

This may not seem much, but multiply it by a few million households and it adds to the already hefty festive footprint created by more cars on the road and giant malls staying open until all hours.

So what's an avid holidaymaker to do? Simply replacing conventional lights with LEDs already cuts energy use by as much as 90%, as they emit less heat, and obviously keeping decorations sparse rather than OTT will help save too.

LED lights may be pricier, but given they burn 60 times longer than their incandescent counterparts, you could save 80% of what you normally spend in the long run. According to Energy Star, a single seven-watt incandescent bulb uses the same amount of electricity as 140 individual LED Christmas lights.

Also, LEDs have the edge in longevity stakes, with an expected life span of about 25 000 to 50 000 hours. Its compact fluorescent cousins expire much earlier, lasting around 7 500 hours, while incandescent bulbs manage a mere 1 000 to 2 000 hours.

Every year, Lawley Street, in Pretoria, bursts out in a dazzling display of luminous creativity. I remember driving through the street when we were younger and being astounded by the filigree of glowing snowflakes and ostentatious creations on rooftops. Hundreds of people come to view the spectacle and it always appeared to be a great holiday show. But lately, one can't help thinking about the countless watts of energy being guzzled, with some people leaving their designs flashing while on holiday, and hundreds of lights blazing away for hours on end.

There are similar traditions in suburbs around the country, with neighbourhoods and landmarks lighting up flickering cut-outs of Santa and sleigh bells. Not to mention the countless lights adorning malls and stores. Again, one can cut down without killing the spirit of celebration by switching to efficient bulbs and reducing the number of hours they're left burning - it's doubtful anyone's going to notice if there's no artificial twinkling between the late night and early morning hours.

Right now, we may be limited to using fewer and more efficient bulbs to save energy, but in future our Christmas trees could potentially light themselves. Scientists have discovered various ways to harness the light-producing traits of organisms and insert them into plant material, so one day we could see foliage providing our festive fireworks.

A team of students at the University of Cambridge, for example, is working on transferring the bioluminescent qualities of nature's bright sparks to other entities by means of genetic building blocks.

They could be a way to bring festive enchantment without the energy drain.

Lezette Engelbrecht, online features editor, ITWeb

By modifying genetic material from fireflies and luminescent marine creatures, the researchers stimulated the activity of light-producing enzymes and then created genetic components or “biobricks”, which can be inserted into a genome.

According to a New Scientist report, the team produced various colours by placing these genes into a type of bacterium. They discovered a volume of bacterial culture the size of an average wine bottle emitted enough light to read by.

While they weren't able to create the luminescent trees originally envisioned, they did manage to produce various parts for others to work from in future.

Unlike strings of bulbs, these “living lights” have no breakable parts, and new lights can be made simply by growing more of them, according to New Scientist. Calculations indicate that for a bioluminescent tree to compete with a street light, only 0.02% of the energy used for photosynthesis would need to be redirected to light production.

Bioluminescent plants aren't a viable replacement for light bulbs, of course, but for special occasions, they could be a way to bring festive enchantment without the energy drain.

Another project uses gold nanoparticles to inject a touch of rainbow radiance into marine plants. A team led by Taiwan-based researcher Yen Hsun Su immersed a type of water plant into a solution of gold nanoparticles. The gold penetrated the plant's cells and when it was exposed to ultraviolet light, the gold particles emitted a violet-blue light. This in turn activated the plant's chlorophyll to glow red.

According to a Gizmag report, the head researchers stress that technologies and bioluminescence efficiency have to improve for the trees to replace streetlights in future. But if bio-LED is successful in making roadside trees light up at night, it will both save energy and absorb CO2, as the bio-LED luminescence will cause the trees' cells to conduct photosynthesis, says Yen Hsun Su.

The next few weeks will see millions of South Africans taking some time out, kicking back and toasting the season. We're fortunate to live in climes that make spending the holidays outdoors a joy, and capitalising on this can easily help cut home energy use.

The period also allows for an overhaul of habits that get lost in the usual daily grind. Becoming more aware and incorporating small things like replacing bulbs, unplugging appliances and turning off lights all add up in reducing one's environmental footprint.

This time of year is about celebrating and indulging with family and friends, but it's also a time of sharing, giving, and appreciation. Simply dimming the lights now and then is a simple but effective way to extend this seasonal generosity to the world that sustains us.