The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Energy Star program in 1992 as a way to label, identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now a partnership between the EPA and the Department of Energy, the program saves you money—and protects the environment—when you buy everything from lightbulbs to appliances with the blue and white Energy Star label. Energy Star-qualified lightbulbs, for example, last as long as 10 times longer and use as much as 75 percent less energy than traditional bulbs.