Before you buy or have any CFL`s installed you may want to search "Brandy Brigdes" of Prospect Maine or read this article that had let to thousands of articles and blogs since March 07 about the hazards of these little mercury bombs.
http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?o...6&Itemid=31
I had read somewhere that if we all used CFL`s in our homes (which most of us will be forced to do) we will be throwing away approximately 50,000 pounds of mercury annually into landfills.
Oh ya, by the way, I have my family home full of CFL`s. I have quite a few dead bulbs from my home that I have collected in a bucket becasue I don`t know how to properly dispose of them. They don`t appear to last nearly as long as a 75w floodlight bulb and aren`t much better than a 60w incadesant when it comes to life span.
Don Campbell has mentioned that the energy consuption in the manufacture of these is quite high. Maybe that`s why they cost 10 times more than bulbs you can discard at end of life?
This from another article I found on the web;
"But recycling experts say the solutions are at least five years away. Meanwhile, millions of consumers and green activists are being persuaded to make the switch.
"EPA currently doesn`t provide a unified message to the public on what to do with fluorescent lamps once they are no longer used," admits a draft announcing plans for a pilot project by the agency.
Yet, the EPA`s Energy Star program is one of the major forces behind the push for CFLs.
"Currently the need to recycle mercury in fluorescent lamps isn`t mentioned on the Energy Star web page although they are working with the Office of Solid Waste to address this," the memo continues. "This may create confusion to the public about doing the right thing."
In fact, even the memo doesn`t advise what the public should do.
No question about it, though. You as a consumer will be required to find certified waste recycling centers to turn in your dead and broken bulbs.
The American Lighting Association has some ideas. It has created a list of five considerations that should be weighed by all legislative bodies considering bans on incandescent bulbs.
The association of American manufacturers and retail outlets suggests any such legislation include the following provisions:
[list type=decimal][*]a lumen per watt energy efficiency standard should be established rather than a ban on a specific type of product. It should include a 10-year goal [*]halogen bulbs should be exempted [*]incandescent bulbs 40 watts or less should be exempt collection and disposal plans for mercury-based CFLs should be made prior to any ban; persuade consumers through education rather than coerce them through limiting choices[/list type=decimal]
Governments may indeed be promoting a kind of lighting that is itself nearly obsolete. Fluorescent lights are nothing new. They`ve been around for a long time. And while they may save money, some say the public hasn`t chosen them for good reasons – including, but not limited to, the mercury issue.
Some experts predict the next generation of lighting, though, is LED lights. They are made from semiconductor materials that emit light when an electrical current flows through them. When this form of light takes over, all bulbs will be obsolete. Your wall "_blank">
tiles can light up. Curtains and drapes can light up. Even your dining room table could be made to light up – at exactly the level you want.
That`s what is ahead in the next decade, according to some in the industry.
Nobody promoted CFLs as aggressively as IKEA. Not only does the retailer sell them, it also provides one of the very few recycling centers for the burned out bulbs. But even with a plethora of recycling centers, how will the public view the prospect of saving up dead bulbs and transporting them to recycling centers? And how about the danger of breakage in that process?
"The industry is currently aiming at totally mercury-free CFL lighting, but this is still five to 10 years away," admits IKEA.
Those who really care about this problem right now are those involved in the waste industry. "Most agree more energy-efficient light bulbs can significantly curb air pollution, but fewer people are talking about how to deal with them at the end of their lives," explained a page 1 story in the April 2 issue of Waste News. It goes on to explain "there is no plan to address air and water pollution concerns that could develop if consumers improperly dispose of the mercury-containing devices."
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