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Aahh, nothing like a little mercury
in the breakfast coffee.
Posted on 05/18/2008 4:28:53 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. -- It's a message being drummed into the heads of homeowners everywhere: Swap out those incandescent lights with longer-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs and cut your electric use.
Governments, utilities, environmentalists and, of course, retailers everywhere are spreading the word.
Few, however, are volunteering to collect the mercury-laced bulbs for recycling -- despite what public officials and others say is a potential health hazard if the hundreds of millions of them being sold are tossed in the trash and end up in landfills and incinerators.
For now, much of the nation has no real recycling network for CFLs, despite the ubiquitous PR campaigns, rebates and giveaways encouraging people to adopt the swirly darlings of the energy-conscious movement. Recyclers and others guess that only a small fraction of CFLs sold in the United States are recycled, while the rest are put out with household trash or otherwise discarded.
"In most parts of the country, it requires getting in your car and burning up your gas and going out of your way, a long ways, and people are unlikely to do this," said Paul Abernathy, the executive director of the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers in Calistoga, Calif.
Sales of the bulbs have skyrocketed this decade -- doubling last year to about 380 million after registering just 17,000 in 2000, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Recycling efforts, though, are spotty at best.
Some communities are arranging special CFL drop-off events while some city or county hazardous waste collection facilities accept them.
Swedish retailer IKEA collects the bulbs at its 34 U.S. stores and manufacturer Osram Sylvania offers a mail-in program. In Nevada, customers of Sierra Pacific Power Co. can now take used CFLs to eight landfills to be recycled.
A few governments have targeted retailers.
The city of Madison requires retailers that sell the bulbs to also collect them for recycling, although stores can charge a fee for it. Maine and Vermont fund programs that distribute collection bins to retailers, from neighborhood hardware stores to Wal-Marts, and get the bulbs to recyclers, either by pickup or mail.
Pennsylvania spent $8,000 to distribute white plastic buckets to several dozen businesses, community organizations and local governments that wanted them. The buckets come with a seal-tight lid and the state pays the postage to send them to a recycler.
Two of the buckets are nestled among the expanding display of CFLs lined up on wall pegs at Ritters True Value Hardware in the central Pennsylvania town of Mechanicsburg, looking like something a store employee inadvertently left there while cleaning up -- not a fledgling attempt to collect the bulbs for safe disposal.
Compact fluorescent bulbs each contain roughly 5 milligrams of mercury, which health professionals say is tiny in relation to the amount in a glass thermometer. Using that estimate, almost 2 tons of mercury were in the 380 million sold last year. By comparison, about 50 tons of mercury are spewed into the air each year by the nation's coal-fired power plants.
The longer fluorescent tubes, in use since World War II, contain slightly more mercury per lamp, but recyclers typically collect them in bulk from the biggest users, businesses and factories, which are required by federal law to dispose of them properly.
Even if recycling efforts have been meager, environmentalists and government officials say it is important to balance the positives of CFLs against any negatives.
For instance, CFLs can curtail the need for energy and thereby cut pollution from power plants. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output.
"People should care about mercury and if they do, they should be working to save energy wherever they can and CFLs are a great answer to that," said John Rogers, a senior energy analyst for the Cambridge, Mass.-based group.
To recycle his spent CFLs, Rogers bags them, stores them in the basement and drops them off when his town, North Reading, Mass., holds a recycling event.
David Stotler, a railroad clerk from Maytown, Pa., does not know of a local option to recycle CFLs, so he threw out the one or two in his home that burned out.
The bulbs do not release mercury if they are used properly and recycled, and the EPA and state governments have written guidelines for how to clean up the mercury from a broken bulb.
Kim N. Dietrich, a professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati, said the bigger concern is the hazard that would result if the mercury from millions of bulbs escapes into the air and waterways before working up the food chain.
"I'm just amazed that the government is not paying more attention to this," Dietrich said.
Manufacturers have looked at substitutes for mercury in the bulbs but have been unable to synthesize the chemical reaction. Still, they say they are working to reduce the amount of mercury in each bulb.
In search of a solution, a group from Brown University in Providence, R.I., has submitted a packaging invention for patent protection: a cardboard sandwich with an element in between that absorbs mercury.
The bulbs can be packaged in the material for retail sale and, after they burn out, returned in it for collection and recycling. If a bulb breaks, the packaging can absorb the mercury residue like a sponge, said environmental studies professor Steven P. Hamburg.
Hamburg estimated that the average CFL will save a user roughly $35 over the bulb's life, compared with the power costs of an incandescent bulb, and cost 25 cents to recycle.
At Ritters hardware, co-owner Jack Winchell wants his store to be recycling-friendly -- he also accepts used motor oil and batteries -- but said he can't do it alone on CFLs if there's no government subsidy.
"If I raise my bulbs 50 cents to pay for the recycling, then I'm not going to be competitive," Winchell said. "Somehow we need to have a shared responsibility for recycling these."
The silliness never stops. Now you have hazardous waste if you go “Green”. I’ll stick with the proven technology for now...
wait till people start dying of mercury poisoning. remember MTBE? I think thats the acronym
Wait a minute, I thought these things were supposed to last for years. If they’re so long lasting and reliable, then why are there so many being tossed? /sarc
Did you ever try to read with one of these bulbs they aren’t bright enough to read with unless the bulb is real close to the paper your reading and forgrt using them for any other kind of light theu suck...
LED lights are the way to go in my book nice and bright and they last a long time longer than these spiral looking junk things...
http://www.theledlight.com/
http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm
http://www.ledlight.com/?gclid=CICP64WdsZMCFQrVsgod0iqgoQ
Why don’t we all just wear night vision goggles? Think of all the money we could save on light bulbs.
John
Another dirty little secret about CFLs is the economics that is used to promote them.
It is often claimed that CFLs will save you money in the long run because they last so much longer than incandecent bulbs. It is claimed that the cost of the electricity that is saved by using CFLs will pay for the extra cost of the bulb.
However, to achieve the life that is claimed for CFLs, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THEM ON! If you switch them on and off, as most people would do for a hallway light, they have a life that is about the same as an incandecent bulb.
I’ve learned this myself.
Recycling and hazardous waste events suck. If communities want people to dispose of these materials properly they need do it more than one day or week a year.
Time to start stockpiling the incandesent bulbs before they are criminalized.
Here’s a simple and practical solution. People should be required to post a $35 surety bond when they purchase a CFL bulb. Your bond money will be held in escrow until you return the burned-out bulb.
What, you can’t afford a $35 bond for each bulb? Well shame on you. You get to live in the dark.
I’ve tried them, but I’ve found them to be WAY WAY overly optimistic in their life expectancy.
In some cases they’ve lasted far less than regular bulbs.
I’ve tried’m and I don’t see the benefit.
As they die, I’m tossing in the trash and buy’in regular reliable bulbs.
Aahh, nothing like a little mercury
in the breakfast coffee.
It’s socialism run amok.
even their lunacy is not reliable.
yep.
They can be sent to
US Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585
Teenagers are throwing them out car windows onto sidewalks.
This is a laughable comment coming from an environmentalist. Since when the hell are they ever interested in a “cost to benefit” ratio when it involves their agenda to destroy the economy.
I've used them for a few years. I don't think they last one bit longer than the Edisons. I have to buy bulbs just as often as I did before we switched. (Mrs gitmo likes the light from CFLs better)
Can you pour the mercury out of these things like you can a thermometer?
“Why don’t we all just wear night vision goggles? Think of all the money we could save on light bulbs.”
ROFLMAO! First Belly Laugh of the day! Thank you! :)
Before the Nannies completely control my EVERY move, I’m stocking up on:
Regular lightbulbs
Bottled water (even if the plastic causes cancer; not!)
55 gallon drums of Crisco
Real Lard (into the freezer)
Seeds for Barley & Hops
Twinkies
Pitchforks
Torches
Dry Socks
A case of Southern Comfort (medicinal purposes)
Sturdy shoes
and...as much ammunition as I can afford!
(And anything else they decide they want to “ban” between now and ‘The Revolution,’ which REALLY needs to hurry up and git here!) :)
That good old law of unintended consequences once again strikes the clueless libs!
That good old law of unintended consequences once again strikes the clueless libs!
Man, are YOU late to the party. The rest of us already FINISHED stockpiling.
Hops grows on a vine - you can get them from Pinetree Seeds. I ordered Willamette. Better to have it and not need it...
Our house has been outfitted with these for most of the 10 years we've owned the place. I've replace 3 dead lamps in that time (that's something like one broken old fever thermometer in 30 years' usage). I also have NO problem reading by their light. I also the the REDUCTION of my power bill.
I bet you're buying cheap, cheap and dirty Chinese knockoffs. Buy a quality CFL for the appropriate situations, you cheapskate, and your experience might differ.
Or continue using your incandescents -- I really have no problem with you choosing that!
But having the Feds dictate what lamps we use... Folks, we are no longer living in a free society.
Although newer LED lighting is pricey, being that LED lighting is more environmentally and people friendly than fluorescent lighting, in my opinion, I’m surprised that there was not one mention of LED lighting in the referenced article (corrections welcome).
What, no Chocolate?
:)
For those of you who are stockpiling incandescent bulbs, well, you’re wasting your time and money. Don’t you know that the cops have heat-sensors that they will be able to point at your house and KNOW that you’re using illegal illumination devices??
Silly people.
You wanna good laugh? Here’s the “offical” way to dispose of a broken CFL:
How should I clean up a broken fluorescent bulb?
Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
1. Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room
• Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
• Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
• Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
• Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
• Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:
• Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
• Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:
• If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
• You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
• If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials
• Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
• Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
• Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming
• The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
• Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
LOL. We'll just tell em it's global warming they're picking up.
Thanks. I manage a Garden Center. I have access to just about anything I’d need to feed myself (and my family & Freeper friends) when the time comes.
(I’m only half joking.) :)
Oh, chocolate is a given. No need to stockpile that, because that’s a daily purchase, LOL!
Right now I have on deck a dark chocolate by Lindt that has hot chili peppers in it. Yummy!
Oh, for Pete’s Sake!
I have about two dozen burned-out flourescent tubes in my garage from grow-light stands for plants. No one locally can tell me where to take them for safe disposal, and I live near a town that touts itself as “The Recycling Capital of Wisconsin!”
Yeesh. Stupid Earth-Firsters. *Rolleyes*
If there's a sign saying that, pile them up underneath it.;-)
LOL! Good idea. :)
Yup.. once this silliness started, I went to my local store and stocked up.
Sheer insanity.
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