I was recently wondering if using candle light as a main household lighting source could be a viable and environmentally friendly alternative. After doing a little research on the web, I found an interesting article with a hilarious – and completely non-scientific – conclusion that I reproduce here:

 "… But if enjoyment of a candlelit dinner leads a couple to go to bed earlier than usual, they will have saved lighting and heating costs for the later part of that evening – which would surely outweigh the difference in environmental cost between candle and electric lighting over dinner. And if that should happen to lead, in turn, to two one-person households becoming one two-person household, with consequent long-term reductions in heating and lighting needs, I think we can say candles can indeed prove to be environmentally friendly as well as, er, friendly."

The full article can be found here. It seems that in essence, the candle solution isn’t that good. Most candles are made of paraffin wax derived from crude oil, thus becoming tiny global warming factors of their own. If, in addition, we take into account the production and transportation impact on our environment, it appears electricity might remain a lesser weevil.

Next, I’ll look at using coffee machines as a household heating system. ;-)