LEDs are considered a green technology and are friendly to the environment for several reasons.  They contain no harmful mercury associated with CFL (compact fluorescent light) or HID (high intensity discharge) lamps.  LEDs have a much longer operating life than conventional lights, and they do not generate used bulbs that get thrown into landfills.  They also have a much higher lighting efficiency (lumens per watt) than incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.  Overall, LEDs have tremendous cost savings and benefits to society in terms of their power consumption (with associated pollution and CO₂ emission) and resources required for servicing and replacement.