CFL, is it worth it?

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I've heard much about how much energy compact flourescent light bulbs (CFL) can save you but I've also been concerned about the mercury content of them. I live near Lake Michigan. The lake and other waterways are already polluted with mercury from powerplant emissions. My concern with CFL bulbs is that so many people will just throw them away instead of recycling them, causing the mercury to enter the environment through landfills.

The fact that many household items are toxic and need to be recycled isn't widely communicated. There are communities where curbside recycling isn't offered, forcing the consumer to find a place to recycle these items and take them there or wait for a community recycle day, storing these items until then.

Today I got a tweet about an article on a blog called TheEnvironmentalAge.com titled "So Called Green Lightbulbs Poision Many Workers" that addressed one of the concerns I have about CFL bulbs. Their article also links to previous articles they have done on this subject. For me, I am still unsure of whether the energy savings these provide is worth the mercury in them. Am I just replacing mercury with mercury? Something to think about and research.

2 comments:

Jeremy Dillingham said...

Hey Melissa,
I didn't know that CFL's contained mercury until we started our blog. They are better for the environment if you take the added step of recycling the bulbs once you're done. But it's a good point that it isn't widely known. Perhaps a warning label of some kind? You can find our post by going to our blog and typing in CFL in the search box.

Kyle Chapman said...

Lets go back to oil lamps and generate new ways to use the oil to produce stronger light emitions!!!! Joking. CFL sounds good for the most part.... hopefully the chemist/engineers behind the scenes are working on a replacement for the mercury element that isn't as harmful. The previous comment was good with mentioning a warning label of some kind. I dunno. Just going to have to wait and see I suppose.

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