Energy-saving lights & the Osram Student Illumination Movement

Osram campaigns for energy savings
Thursday, June 19, 2008
MÜGE ÖZBAĞISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

Not only the commercial gain, but also the global social mission and raising of consciousness about climate change in consumers' minds are important issues, said Erol Kırılmaz, one of the youngest country managers of lighting equipment producer Osram.

In an interview with the Turkish Daily News, the 36-year-old executive urged wider utilization of energy-saving lamps, saying this is one of the ways in which people could shoulder this social responsibility. “By buying these lamps, the consumer can secure up to 80 percent energy savings and do something to protect the environment at the same time.” Under the directives of the young chief executive officer, who is quite convinced that the road to increase consciousness can only be pawed through reaching out to children, Osram started a social education project called the “Osram Student Illumination Movement” on its 100th anniversary in 2006.

The movement was founded on the basis of improving educational conditions such as the lighting quality in classrooms located in Anatolia. Another focus of the project was the cognitive “illumination,” intended to educate children on climate change and global warming topics. The Illumination Project addresses children through a video and a magazine, in which a polar bear explains global warming. “What can I do to reduce global warming?” is the crucial question raised by the products. “The kids have shown great interest in the topic,” said Kırılmaz.

The Osram Project team, which traveled 6,000 kilometers from Eskişehir, to Mersin, Adana, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Malatya and Kayseri, has reached nearly 5,000 children and handed out more than 50,000 informational pamphlets. The company aims to reach more than 1,000 schools in east and southeast Anatolia. The interest in schools is high, said Kırılmaz and added the project will continue through this year.

Energy-saving lamps constitute an important portion of Osram's revenue, however there is further energy-saving potential, said Kırılmaz. For example, the new light-emitting diode, or LED technology and the Osram Halogen Energy Saver products provide alternative illumination scenarios consuming 30 percent less energy than normal incandescent lamps, he added.Some 100 million household lamps are sold in Turkey each year and 30 million of them are energy-saving lamps. Although traditional lighting is still widely used in the country, Kırılmaz said there is a good chance of expanding the market of energy-saving lamps and modern lighting systems. “The interest and the consciousness to save money and do something against global warming at the same time is very distinct and continues to grow. The urgency to take on some responsibility rests on everybody's shoulders. There is no escaping that,” he said.

http://turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=107194