True Holiday Cheer: Bright and Efficient!

Last year, promoters of the City of St. Paul’s giant Rice Park Christmas tree bragged that their tree would be “as tall and bright as the iconic Rockefeller Center tree in New York City.”  However, as several local news organizations pointed out, St. Paul’s tree differed from NYC’s in one significant way – lights.  Specifically, St. Paul’s tree was lit with 60,000 highly inefficient incandescent holiday mini-lights which use ten times more energy than the 30,000 efficient and eco-friendly LED (light emitting diode) lights that illuminated the Rockefeller Center tree. The Minnesota Department of Commerce estimated that this shortsighted choice cost the city $1,300 and created over 18 tons of carbon dioxide pollution.

St. Paul got the message, because this year the bragging is the same – “as tall and bright as the iconic Rockefeller Center tree in New York City” – but organizers are also making sure that St. Paul’s tree is just as economically smart and eco-friendly as the one in the Big Apple. This year the Rice Park Christmas Tree will twinkle with the efficient light of 30,000 LED holiday lights.  Happy Holidays!

:: KARE 11, WCCO, Capital City Partnership