Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

A couple weeks ago, some people who live on my block in Fort Greene put this holiday abomination out in front of their building:

All I can think whenever I walk by it is, “How high is their electric bill going to be?”

Some people really go overboard with Christmas to the point of wasting insane amounts of electricity. Is it ego, misplaced enthusiasm, competitiveness or something else that drives them? I don’t know. I do know that when Chevy Chase covers his entire house in thousands of lights, it makes me laugh.

With environmental sustainability becoming a higher priority for more and more people, LED Christmas lights are a hot item. Not to the touch, though: they burn cool. That makes them less likely than traditional holiday lights to start fires or singe little kids’ fingers. These shining beacons of eco-hipness last longer, reduce pollution and save you money on your electric bill. They may cost a bit more than the regular lights, but the Environmental Defense Fund says the cost is easily offset in a year or two by the electricity savings.