I know that you don’t have a lot of money. Few people do after graduation. The good news is that you can still light your apartment (or house) in a green way. While the costs look high at first, in actuality, using CFL bulbs can help you save a ton of money.

What are CFLs? Energy Star has put together a really good explanation here, but in general, what you need to know is that these bulbs use less energy to produce the same amount of light. They also last about ten times longer than traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Because you use less energy, CFLs save you money over time. The typical electric bill for a home is about 20% lighting charges. So, that means, for every $100 you spend on electricity, about $20 of that is paying for light. Switching to CFLs saves you about 75% energy. Doing the math, that means that you’ll save $15 for on every $100 electricity bill. So, even though these bulbs cost more upfront, they pay for themselves rather quickly.

If every home in the United States replaced just one bulb with a CFL, we’d save enough energy in a year to light over 3 million homes. You owe it to yourself and Mother Nature to start using CFLs as your old bulbs burn out. Here are some great places to buy at discount:

• GE 13-watt pack of six ($20.52, or $3.42 per bulb)
• Globe mini 23-watt pack of four ($15.99, or $4 per bulb)
• Honeywell mini 23-watt pack of 18 ($54.00, or $3.05 per bulb)