Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
National Christmas Tree Joins Other Outdoor Light Displays in Using Energy-Efficient LEDs That Save Electricity-and Money
By Daniel LeDuc Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 7, 2007;
Page B01 It takes a while for a tree to be green. For decades, the National Christmas Tree was heartily chopped down from forests throughout the nation and trucked to the White House to be decked out in lights and ornaments. Then someone finally had the idea to plant the tree, so it would grow each year; the current tree has stood in place for 28 years. Yesterday, the Colorado blue spruce passed an ecological milestone. When President Bush flicked the switch, those were not filament-burning bulbs that bedazzled the thousands who thronged the Ellipse for the annual tradition; they were glowing, energy-efficient light-emitting diodes. It was a first for the national tree and part of a new holiday tradition throughout the region, as public Christmas displays switch to bulbs that illuminate by chemical reaction. The Christmas tree at the Capitol switched two years ago. All the Christmas lights in the Maryland State House and governor’s residence in Annapolis made the change this year. Same for some of the most popular, crowd-drawing displays in the area. The new display at the National Zoo is all LED, as is the Bull Run Festival of Lights in Centreville. The Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton has exchanged nearly half of its 700,000 lights for LEDs and plans to complete the rest in the coming years. The Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple in Kensington has replaced more than three-fourths of its half-million lights and hopes to finish the rest next year.
Read More…
