Every Little Bit Helps

[jseal]

Australia has announced plans to retire incandescent light bulbs (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6378161.stm) by 2012 in favor of more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.


For those who may be interested, here is a link to another “migration advocacy (http://www.banthebulb.co.uk/)” site.

[scotzoidman]

It has been pointed out that switching out to CF light bulbs creates another problem...fluorescent bulbs contain mercury vapor, which we do not want going into our landfills and contaminating water tables...so the answer would be to have recycling stations for fluorescent lights, right? So we have plans in place to start doing that?

Well...as it turns out, NO....

Severeid's Law: The main cause of problems is solutions to problems.

[WildIrish]

It has been pointed out that switching out to CF light bulbs creates another problem...fluorescent bulbs contain mercury vapor, which we do not want going into our landfills and contaminating water tables...so the answer would be to have recycling stations for fluorescent lights, right? So we have plans in place to start doing that?

Well...as it turns out, NO....

Severeid's Law: The main cause of problems is solutions to problems.


Coming from a facilities environment that is legally bound to dispose of fluorescent lamps in an environmentally safe manner...I do know that there are stations available and trucks get dispatched for bulk pickups.


At a cost.

Soooooooooooo...how many people will be willing to pay extra for a lightbulb that they will have to pay to get rid of in a responsible manner? Not too many now. I envision a lot of problems on the horizon. It's upsetting because I'm fully behind a sensible switch to anything that consumes less electricity. Especially considering the unprecedented rate increases we have been exposed to over the past two years...to the tune of 56%! :yikes:


And what do we get for the extra money?

"Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today issued a report on the near-disastrous electric shortage that happened during the January cold snap almost exactly one year ago. The prospect of voltage reductions and power outages on the coldest days of the year jeopardized the health and safety of millions of New England residents.

When temperatures dipped dangerously low last January, several gas-fired electric generators sold natural gas supplies to reap exorbitant and extraordinary profits, rather than to generate electricity. As a result, more than 25 percent of New England's generating capacity was unavailable and the region's electric reserve approached zero. The shortage prompted ISO New England – the region's electric grid operator – to issue grave warnings about potential voltage reductions and rolling blackouts."

And we're sitting here taking it.

Up the ass. :mad:

But, to prevent changing the topic, I agree with using less electricity for equal illumination but there needs to be additional financial incentive. Be it in the form of a cheaper light bulb or free proper disposal.

[jseal]

... fluorescent bulbs contain mercury vapor, which we do not want going into our landfills and contaminating water tables...so the answer would be to have recycling stations for fluorescent lights, right? So we have plans in place to start doing that? ...
scotzoidman,

Here in Baltimore, we do have several fluorescent recycling services (http://www.mdrecycles.org/recyclingDirectory.asp?sec=fluorescentLamps); both drop off and pick up.

While Googling the subject, I did notice that most of these services were close to cities. It makes sense that the high density urban areas would help provide the volume needed to make the services profitable. So I guess that some sort of financial incentives will be needed to make recycling attractive in areas that are more lightly populated.

[scotzoidman]

For the record, I'm all for switching to CFs, & just made my first purchase of same earlier this week. Home Depot has a great selection, & in multi-paks they're not much more expensive than the old-fashion Edison types...especially when you factor in that you won't be replacing them anywhere near as often. That's a major factor in my decision to switch, I'm tired of having to climb up and replace the bulb in my workshop lamp every 2-3 months, & the CFs are warranteed for about 9 years; factor in that I'll use about 25% of the kilowatt-hours for roughly the same light...I love it! I'm just getting tired of politicians & bandwagon jumpers pushing us into things without considering the Law of Unintended Consequenses...I really want to save $$$ AND the environment at the same time if I can, but I can't see the logic in having to drive across town to safely recycle my lightbulbs...WalMart has annouced that it wants to sell 1,000,000 CF bulbs to do their part, but they've not said anything about what they inted to do with the leftovers...there's lots of stores that serve as recycling stations for old batteries, cell phones, even ink cartridges, I see no reason why we can't do the same with flourescents...just trying to get the word out, is all I'm doing here...