New florescent lights to replace incandescence?
I think there should be a substantial deposit required to purchace such items and a return depot at point of purchace.
Answer:
They're not a serious problem. This is an "urban legend".
Using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) actually reduces mercury pollution.
Fossil fuels contain mercury. Using incandescent bulbs causes more mercury to be emitted from power plants. More than the tiny amount (0.005 grams or less) that is in a CFL.
It's better if you dispose of old CFLs properly so that even the tiny amount of mercury is not released. But, no matter how they're disposed of, CFLs reduce mercury pollution.
http://www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainab...
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl...
If you're concerned about this, better get rid of every conventional fluorescent bulb in your house. They contain 2-10 times as much mercury.
How about LEDs... they use even less power, last even longer, and are less polluting to the environment... they do, however, cost more
I agree with Bob. Although CFL's do contain mercury, there is still less mercury released from the production and use of one CFL than from that of one incandescent bulb.
I also agree the a mercury deposit program would be benificial. The deposit program has proven itself useful for recyclable materials, and is a good investment.
It would also be nice if pick-up recycling services offered a toxic waste removal servince. This would require the companies to spend extra money to obtain such a permit and to provide that service. These recycling companies would then charge more for their services. If you can convince your pick-up recycling service that such an investment would not hurt their net income, such a scheme may work. You could also write to your state government officials and ask them to provide a larger subsidy to recycling services for such a service.
There's no need of a deposit--the amount of mercury is extremely small.
The whole "mercury" thing is just one more fake issue dreamed up by the anti-environmentalists. What they don't tell you is that the coal-fired power plants--the status quo they are trying to protect--producefare more mercury--and dump it straight into the environment--to produce the electricity the CF bulbs save.
The idea of a deposit isn't a bad idea on the surface--but wold increase the initial cost, discouraging people from switching over. As I pointed out--that leaves us with more mercury, not less--assuming the bulbs are not properly disposed of.
Go led, their environmentally friendly and will actually save you more then cfls.
Flourecent lights have been around for a very long time. The new CFLs are no different. I have always just thrown them in the trash, and I suspect that is what everyone else has done as well. The world has not come to an end.
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