Enlightenment down under.

Today the news announced that it's lights out for the old Edison-type electric lamp in Australia. What a great idea! Not only for ecology's sake, and the reduction of carbon pollution, but because it will save everyone pots of money. Compact flourescents are the answer.

Back in the day, we had only one bulb in the "back basement", a dank, smelly dungeon in which the washing machine and laundry tubs were located. When I was a kid, the washing machine was a motorized tub with a beater in it and a wringer that had a trough below it. The trough could be pressed down to spill the wringer water in one of two directions. When the Momma turned the trough inward most of the water would drop back into the tub as the clothes went through the wringer and dropped into the rinse water. Then, after pushing on the clothes with a plunger, she would lock the wringer between the tubs, and pass the clothes from the rinse side to the other side, which was dry.

I used to stand in the "back basement" for a considerable time, fascinated by this intricately choreographed effort. But how clean were the clothes? Hard to say, because the entire scene was lit by nothing greater than a 40-watt bulb. My parents, children of the Great Depression, were very cost-conscious.

Other underlit places come to mind. The bathroom was one of the more illuminated spots: after all, Dad had to shave in there. This he did by the light of two bare 25-watt bulbs in black, unadorned fixtures on either side of the built-in medicine cabinet. Patches of stubble were sometimes the more obvious result. The old knob-and-tube wiring in the walls probably couldn't support much more.

I could tell when my parents were getting older. The wattage went up. But still, Dad was fond of the advice his dad gave him.

"R... that light switch has only so many clicks in it. When they're gone there won't be any more." This was an incentive for me to leave the lights on, but for Dad, the reverse.

The millions of "wall warts" (low voltage transformers) that power our electronic toys and recharge our batteries are costing us a bundle for the convenience they offer. My folks would have been disgusted by the amount of power and ultimately carbon dioxide pollution caused by the number of computers we have. But for them, the biggest waster of electricity was always the electric light bulb. My shins were living proof of how successful they were at conservation.