With Earth Day having just passed, I’ve been looking for new ways to use sustainable energy and be a better inhabitant of the planet. I’d like to consider myself to be a pretty environmentally conscious individual – I recycle, I eat organically whenever possible, and I carpool. But I wanted to do something bigger and better. So when I was listening to the radio and heard about a new energy efficient LED light bulb that’s supposed to last 20 years, I was intrigued. All of that for the low, manageable cost of…sixty dollars?!

The new LED light bulb from Philips can fit as a replacement to traditional incandescent bulbs, but uses only one-sixth the energy and ranks high with government rankings for quality of light. After doing some more research, I found that Twitter was abuzz this past week from sustainability aficionados in anticipation of the light bulb’s release for sale on Earth Day.

Sixty dollars may seem like a steep price to pay for something as simple as a light bulb, but the bulb is said to save $8 dollars a year on energy costs and lasts up to 20 years. Despite it’s long-term benefits, in today’s economy $60 for a light bulb may still seem excessive, the little voice in the back of my mind that speaks to the marketing potential of such an innovative product can’t help but wonder how Philips could successfully reach out to consumers to convince them to invest in what Marketplace joked was the “light bulb for the one percent.”

I must applaud the marketing efforts of Philips in deciding to launch sales of their new energy-friendly light bulb on Earth Day. In a day and age where a focus on preserving the planet can often take a backseat to advancements in technology, it’s refreshing to hear about a new and innovative piece of technology that not only does something pretty amazing but also gives back to the Earth and puts some money back into consumer pockets.