Posted on 03/09/2011 9:32:36 AM PST by La Lydia
Yeah. Let me expand that for you.
A few months ago, the government THAT RECENTLY ALSO IDENTIFIED CARBON DIOXIDE AS A POLLUTANT put out a list of things to do if one of these bulbs broke and how to dispose of it.
And your point is?
Perfectly reasonable. Good basis to oppose the govt legislating yet another choice.
My objection is with conservatives jumping on the 'OMG its hazmat' bandwagon.
IOW, if the government had BANNED CFL's because they were a "health hazard" I'd be just as po'd.
Just like in straight fluorescent it’s a powder that may puff into the air some when you break, depending largely on just how much force you break it with. Try not to breath deeply, especially not with your face close to the where the bulb broke, leave the room for a bit until it settles, clean it up without stirring it (ie don’t use a bad vacuum, good vacuum or low energy sweeping) and walla all gone.
Its a non-issue. If you leave them on, they will last a very long time. Mine have lasted four months - so far. Incandescent bulbs have a lifespan of roughly three months.
The government is slowly poisoning us with all the crap from China.
The Complaint Morphs Again!
The only reasonable argument here is that the Government has no business telling us what bulbs to buy , or from whom.
The safety angle is total Beee Essss.
First it was the mercury, but not in the tube bulbs. Now your saying the danger is not the mercury but that they're made in china with, uh, something more dangerous than mercury?
Fine.
Then guess what. The incandescents that we're all stocking up on now are. made. in. china.
Are you gonna sit in the dark and boycott them too? sheesh.
I got a spam email forwarded to me on the heels of the baby milk scare warning me of MELAMINE being used in certain plastic items made in china. Good Lord! MELAMINE IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN PLASTICS AND FORMICA AND MELAMINE DISHES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. The problem was they put it in milk to make it look higher in protein. And so now people go haywire when they hear an industrial substance being used for what it's intended to be used for. Like MERCURY. God help us.
"Electricity" is not iffy. WIRING can be iffy. Load distribution can be iffy.
If you've got lights dimming and breakers flipping then you've got wiring faults.
Dim lights come from anomalous series resistance in the feed lines somewhere, possibly at joints/plugs/switches.
Flipped breakers due to appliance use means circuits are loaded BEYOND their intended/allowable design limit for non-transient loads.
Hello? Do you like living in a fire trap?
It amazes me that people will panic over a goddam broken light bulb, and yet sleep soundly knowing that that there's a freaking zippo lighter equivalent flicking somewhere in the wall or the attic everytime the lights dim.
Heck, I just put them in a big bag and stomp them to death. I guess the Green Police will be coming for me.
It isn't about the light bulbs or the technology.
It is about the hypocrisy of the enviros first wanting to say mercury is terrible and then they want us to forget these bulbs have mercury in them and they will be disposed of in the millions in landfills.
They want to shut down coal plants because of MINUTE amounts of mercury diluted around the globe. They outlawed mercury in thermometers. They want you to dispose of regular fluorescent bulbs as hazardous waste (I used to work in a place that had a bulb eater for conveniently compact them and allow recycling because of hazardous waste laws). Yet they think it is OK for every person to throw away these lights every year for the rest of eternity?
They can't have it both ways!
I honestly don't know one conservative who is truly worried about the mercury. I'm not. It's about the hypocrisy on mercury and the environment AND the government overstepping it's authority to control people.
At what point do the authorities condemn my home and property and confiscate it because it has been declared a toxic waste dump site if I can no longer pay (or want to pay) the monumental cleanup costs to make it "safe" again?
Do they also get to confiscate all my other property and assets to help pay for the proper cleanup when I no longer want to or can?
Now that they control all the home mortgages, do I still have to pay off that debt on my condemned property as well (because it was my actions/negligence which caused the problem) - even with the house no longer in my name? Am I still legally liable for the balance?
Is my mortgage liability transferred to the government along with my title?
How about my property taxes? Am I still liable for them while all this is in legal limbo getting sorted out by some overworked judge and the EPA in glacial proceedings?
Must I hire my own lawyer or will the government provide one for me free as they do any other common criminal?
Inquiring minds want to know...
At the plant I retired from, we used a ploy called the “midnight drop-off” to get rid of things like CFLs.
Probably your best bet.
Especially if you have a neighbor who sports an Obama bumper sticker.
Then don’t eat incandescent bulbs from china.
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