The energy-efficient bulbs made huge strides this holiday season, showing up on major holiday icons as well as people's houses and front lawns, with LED strands even being sold in stores like Target. The New Year's Eve ball will have more than 9,000 LED bulbs this year, just in time for its 100th anniversary. Apparently, the ball will use no more energy than 10 toasters, which is quite impressive. But no word on how they're disposing of the old incandescent and halogen bulbs.

Besides the decreased usage of energy, publicity about the famous ball and even the Rockefeller tree serves another purpose: education. The more people hear about saving energy and protecting the environment, the more this becomes a norm in our everyday lives and becomes an easily accessible effort that everyone should try – not just the ones who wear hemp and compost their food.