The annual tradition of breaking out the Christmas lights, untangling them for a day or two, enjoying them for the first week, then maddeningly watch them flicker and go out for the next three, finally culminating in the most annoyingly expensive of all Holiday traditions:

The electric bill that arrives in January.

Of course, we can always blame the cold of December for the triple-digit tragedy that is the PSE bill, but how much damage are we doing by just being festive? After all, 22% of all the energy consumed in the United States pays for just lighting up the United States.

We get pressured to go 'green' everyday- change your lightbulbs, recycle all that paper, try carpooling, but when it comes to the Holiday season? Let's go load up on wrapping paper, use it once, throw it away, and tack those enormous, energy hogging lights onto our house!

So, this year, in the spirit of doing new things, learning from years past, and taking the next step in creating a better tomorrow… (OK, fine, my old lights finally conked out, are you happy now?)

…I decided to make the switch to LED holiday lights.

To be the most honest, what grabbed me was the small print on the back of the box. $94 a month spent powering old fashioned ceramic lights (which I love), and $11 to power the upstart LED's.

As much as I love saving money, I also want things to look good- so my next thought? "I bet they suck."

Thankfully, the store had a great little example set up on the lights with a "push me" button to turn them on. Finally, something that looked nice, in many ways better than the old-school version.

Alright, so I'm sold. Loaded up my shopping cart with boxes of these things (they averaged about $12 per line), and brought them home. Worked outside, blared the football game at ungodly decibel levels loud enough so folks in Portland could hear it, and did my magic. (OK, the blaring of the football game probably wasn't energy-effecient).

Finally, the one thing everyone waits for when the sun goes down- and at the appointed hour, the LED's shone brightly and proudly- even under two inches of fresh snow.

Festive, inexpensive, and Green. Happy Holidays!



Joe Gura is the Director of Digital Media for KSTW-TV. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly his and are not to be construed as a commercial endorsement.