The incandescent light bulb is a quintessential American invention, discovered by Thomas Edison more than 125 years ago, but its future seems to be fading to black amid an ever-greening society.
As Americans today celebrate the 39th anniversary of Earth Day with tree plantings, neighborhood cleanups and speeches, consumers are being pushed to buy more environmentally friendly products, including new light bulbs.
In the same way garbage recycling became a household rage in the 1970s, switching to compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, is fast becoming the help-the-planet action among concerned citizens these days.
"It's probably one of the easiest ways for people to contribute, and contribute right away," said Steve Walz, senior advisor to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on energy and conservation issues.
Virginia last year bought 27,000 CFLs and distributed them to 70 state agencies and universities to replace conventional bulbs as part of a push to reduce government spending on electricity.
Also last year, Dominion Virginia Power, the state's largest electric utility, began offering CFLs for sale at reduced prices at participating Home Depot stores across the state, including several in Hampton Roads.
As of last week, the campaign has resulted in the sale of nearly 1.1 million bulbs. According to Dominion's calculations, that equates to 65,739 cars off the road for one year or 377,104 tons of carbon dioxide - a major greenhouse gas and key contributor to global warming - not being emitted.
The subsidy program will continue until 2009, and Dominion still hopes to hit its goal to sell 5 million CFLs by then, said David Botkins, a utility spokesman in Richmond.
At the federal level, President Bush signed an energy bill in December that, among other changes, will require all light bulbs sold in the United States by 2020 to be at least 70 percent more efficient than today.
This mandate means that, without major improvements, incandescent bulbs will disappear from store shelves by 2020.
After Congress delivered its comprehensive energy bill to the White House in a Toyota Prius hybrid car, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, waxed poetic about light bulbs, noting that little had changed since Edison and his glass tube and filament.
"When it comes to illumination," Harman said, "we still live in a cave."
Canada and Australia are on track to similarly phase out traditional bulbs by 2012. Several U.S. states and local governments have threatened to ban incandescents on their own, though none has acted.
The environmental keys to CFLs are their efficiency and longevity. According to government figures, CFLs use about 75 percent less energy to emit light than incandescent bulbs, and last as much as 10 times longer.
Although customers pay more for CFLs up front, they save money over the life of the bulbs. Furthermore, less energy from fossil fuel-burning power plants is needed to light homes and businesses, reducing greenhouse gases.
Traditional bulbs, the government says, utilize only about 10 percent of electricity to create light; the rest is either lost or given off as heat.
Not that CFLs are panaceas. They come with their own environmental risk - mercury.
About 5 milligrams of mercury, a neuro-toxin, is sealed within each of the pretzel-shaped alternatives. Problems start if the bulbs crack during improper installation or if they shatter when dropped.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, when such an accident occurs, residents should open a window and leave the room for about 15 minutes, keeping pets and children away especially.
Fragments should be scooped up with stiff paper or cardboard and placed in a covered glass jar or a sealed plastic bag. Other remnants should be picked up with duct tape or sticky tape, but not with a broom or vacuum, because traces of mercury can remain there.
The collected wastes should be disposed of immediately in an outdoor trash container.
When CFLs eventually burn out, they should be handled like unwanted oil-based paints or spent AA batteries - bagged, segregated from normal trash, and taken to a household-hazardous waste disposal center.
In South Hampton Roads, there are eight such centers, which accept these wastes for free. They are run by the Southeastern Public Service Authority, or SPSA - at the two public landfills in Suffolk and Virginia Beach; at garbage transfer stations in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Franklin and Isle of Wight County; and at the main trash-sorting plant in Portsmouth.
While some critics scoff at CFLs as "pro-mercury," advocates say the health and environmental risks are small - and are minute compared with the mercury emitted from coal-burning power plants.
Finding CFLs for sale can be more difficult than finding conventional bulbs in South Hampton Roads, though most hardware and home-improvement stores stock them now.
Wal Mart, which is marketing itself as an environmentally friendly company, sells them as well, though the New York Times reported last year that CFLs accounted for only about 20 percent of light-bulb sales for the retailer.
Amanda Clarkson, who co-owns Green Alternatives, an environmental-products shop in the Ghent section of Norfolk, said CFL sales have been brisk in recent months.
"It seems people are finally catching on," she said. The new bulbs "are not the most popular thing we sell, but definitely one of the most popular."
At a Home Depot store Monday morning, on Military Highway in Norfolk, small placards announced the Dominion Virginia Power discount program for CFLs.
Instead of $6.88 for a four-pack of 60-watt equivalents, the price was cut almost in half, to $3.88.
Moses Allen, a contractor, wandered into the lighting aisle Monday and walked past the incandescents before stopping to study the CFLs. He then caught sight of a "clearance sale" sign for traditional bulbs and picked up six packs.
When asked about CFLs, Allen shrugged.
"Well, these are cheaper," he said, pointing to the clearance-sale bulbs. "I'm getting these, though those other ones do look kind of cool."
Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
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yes!
Phrog wrote:
We just can't win with these people! This is nothing more than a corporate hustle.
FINALLY, someone else who gets it! I love the tree-hugging whale-humpers that scream for us to use these bulbs and the others that proclaim their dangers. How many of us use fluorescent tube lamps in their garages or their businesses. They've been in use for years and, thrown in dumpsters and put in landfills. I have yet to see any ill-effects from this activity. Personally I hate the color of the light CFL’s produce and won’t be buy any until forced to.
The amount of energy saved in CFL’s is negligible, at best. LED's are a good alternative, but require very toxic substances to produce (arsenic, arsine, gallium, etc). Bottom line is we cannot be completely green; everything we do creates something toxic or "harms" the environment. Funny thing is most of what the greenies want or have (solar cells, Prius) creates more waste and toxins than conventional means.
Retiredguy:
Good point and thanks for the tip. Yes, you are absolutely correct. Sure sign of the times when government takes absolute control with their absolute power that the people absolutely gave them.
Guess my pen is going to be pretty busy for a while.
Score another one!
The real solution isn't the consumption it is the generation of power. And if you want to save the environment then NUCLEAR is the only GREEN way to go! How ironic that the liberals have put the two as incompatible. Even our dear friends, the French, use nuclear to a greater level.
Then comes the ethanol knee-jerk solution that is creating more carbon emissions than oil but even worse is the world-wide starvation that removing 30% of the grain out of the food supply has occurred. Congratulations!
Happy earth day!
Why do
people keep saying in here that the article does not address the mercury issue or clean up/disposal needs? It does.
JMO
How many General Electric appliances or anything else do you own? Where they all made in China?
Phrog:
You've heard the old adage, "Never say never." Well, unless either Congress passes legislation to restore the manufacture of incandescent bulbs, or you have laid in a lifetime supply of incandescent bulbs, about 2014 there won't be any of them to purchase. Send your representative and senators a email thanking them for passing a law without considering the unintended consequences.
CJackCity, how is Precious doing?
IT PUTS THE CFL IN THE SOCKET OR ELSE IT GETS THE HOSE AGAIN!!!
LOL - more $$$ to China
I hope that none of you advocating use of CFL's are on the 'no chinese imports' band wagon.
jmo
There are solutions
There are solutions. We can package up all of the used bulbs in cargo containers and have them sent to third world countries where their kids can pick them apart to be recycled into new CFL bulbs to be resold the American public. If we are lucky the same country will even buy our debt!
There are solutions
There are solutions. We can package up all of the used bulbs in cargo containers and have them sent to third world countries where their kids can pick them apart to be recycled into new CFL bulbs to be resold the American public. If we are lucky the same country will even buy our debt!
Breaking one in your house isn't the problem
The tiny amount of mercury from breaking one in your house isn't the problem. The problem comes when millions of these end up broken in the landfill. You can try to get people to dispose of them properly but that hasn't worked in the past. For example, the used motor oil ocean pollution from people throwing it away is a hundred times more than all the big shipping oil spills.
The CFL at my front door
has been buring for almost 3 years. I also now have them all over the house. You don't throw old burned out CFL bulbs in the trash there are places you can take them for safe disposal.
LEDs aren't perfect either...
Sure, they're incredibly efficient and last nearly forever, but don't forget that priced LEDs lights can contain arsenic. Fortunately, the quantity is small and usually sealed inside plastic, so it should take a while longer to make it's way into the groundwater.
CFLs are a good solution despite the mercury. The reduced power plant emissions and waste more than offset the slight risk posed by the mercury vapor from a broken bulb.
For the sake of being green???
I am totally confused here. We are told the incandescent light bulbs are draining our energy resources so we all need to prove our "green-hood" by changing to the Compact Flourescent Light bulb. But...then I am told now that the CFL is far more dangerous for the environment and my health due to the mercury content. We just can't win with these people! This is nothing more than a corporate hustle. Follow the money folks. Before you go off saying that I am anti-environment I will say that I strongly believe that we have strayed far off course with environmental management and responsibility. We have strayed so far off course that it will take years to get back on track. But, come on, exchanging one energy sapping light bulb for an environmental and health disaster is not how to get back on track.
I for one will never, never, ever use the CFL. I love my family too much to expose them to this health hazard.
Green - right!
Yep, mercury, neurotoxins, special disposal requirements - this is really "green," folks! And has anyone used one of those things? First of all, they aren't as bright as incandescents and take time to come up to brightness. They cost more to buy and more to dispose of properly. Oh, but they might have something to do with slowing global warming, so better go buy them! And there is an Easter bunny!
I will NOT use these light
I will NOT use these light bulbs. When I am at Lowes or Home Depot, I buy as many of the older type of bulbs as I can afford. I am stocking up on them in all wattages.
I tell folks who are looking at them, not to buy them as the mercury can cause health problems if you drop it or break it. I still don't understand who the idiot was who started this hog wash switch over to this stupid bulb. Va Power is in cohoots with the light bulb industry!!
That's a good one, Ed Baskins! LOL
Thanks to all of you for the information you've provided here, that this article failed to disclose. I didn't know fluorescent bulbs contained mercury...probably because I don't use them and never bothered to pay any attention.
Concerns
I'm a greenie & I use CFL's all through my house. When they burn out, I know I will take them to be properly disposed of. However, I'm really concerned that so many governments & localities are pushing or even requiring the use of these bulbs. I hate to say it, but most people are lazy & will just throw these bulbs in the trash when they're through with them. I understand the desire to cut energy usage, but unless an easier & more convenient method of collecting these old bulbs (like more drop-off areas) is found, I think it would be best for their use to remain optional, & only for those willing to take on the responsibility inherent to them. I too think there should be more research into LED's, & ronniew92627 should take his conspirator's energy out on more important things than LIGHT BULBS.
Night Vision
I just bought some military surplus night vision goggles online. I plan to no longer use lights at all.
why not stop the pollution at the source (the power plants)
It should not matter what kind of bulbs we use or how much energy each household uses. We should be able to leave all the lights on in our house all the time if we can afford it. The cleanup needs to be a the source. If the powerplants that made the electricity did not give off any emissions or hurt the environment it wouldnt matter. This is why we need to start at the source and invest in wind, waves, geothermal, and the sun. If we have to start with nuclear first and then phase in the rest that is what we need to do. It doesnt make sense for the consumer to pinch pennies and struggle to help when the electric plants that orginially make the electricity are not efficient and pollute the enviroment more to begin with. It needs to be a combined effort but the electric companies need to step up and make sure all of the energy they are producing to begin with is clean energy.
CFLS
The amount of mercury contained in residential CFLs, as shown in the picture, is very small. It is on a completely different level of magnitude than the bulbs you are referencing that are used at the shipyard. At the very most, the level of mercury in the residential type bulbs would force you to open a window if one breaks. In other words, you would not want to stand right on top of the broken bulb and inhale. However, it would not be this huge costly ordeal. Many major light bulb companies have announced their intentions to manufacturer CFLs without any mercury in them at all. Many other countries, Australia for example, have banned the use of common incandescent bulbs altogether.
As an aside, they do make dimmable fluorescent bulbs. They also make recessed fluorescent bulbs. LED technology has a ways to go before the cost benefits are as attractive as CFL technology.
This is one small way, which many people can make a huge difference on the demand. Energy efficiency is one of the cheapest ways to reduce our consumption, greenhouse gases, and keep energy cost manageable.
mm12175
I worked in a shipyard where a broken fluorescent bulb was a BIG deal...mercury is a liquid which vaporizes at room temperature and can quickly reach hazardous concentrations, especially in a small heated space such as a closet or bathroom. Cleanup is difficult and expensive, and unless it's a hard surface, impossible. Contaminated carpets will need to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Most people are either ignorant or lazy and will just toss them in the trash. I live with some of them and I am constantly going through the trash pulling out the recyclables because they are too lazy to walk the extra 10 feet to toss stuff in the blue bin. In a nutshell, CFLs are not worth the money saved in energy. The solution is to develop energy sources that are renewable and cheap, not to create another environmental disaster and health hazard that our grandkids will have to clean up.
MERCURY OR GREEN IS NOT THE POINT
The problem is why are we letting the government decide what is best for us in the first place. We are heading down a slippery slope and very few people seem to care. Read Liberal Fascism and open your eyes.
Well, what are you doing about it then????
It is easy to sit here and complain about light bulbs but what are you doing besides vegetating in front of you computer?
"While some critics scoff at CFLs as "pro-mercury," advocates say the health and environmental risks are small - and are minute compared with the mercury emitted from coal-burning power plants."
A message to Liberal Tree-huggers
These CFLs are by no means a good solution to going green! First, the trace amounts of mercury are harmful to humans, pets, AND the environment! They recommend you seal a broken CFL and dispose of properly! Yeah right, I laugh at that! How much PLASTIC will go back into the planet over this, and I wonder how much CO & CO2 will dispersed into the air by driving ONE stupid CFL to the proper disposal location???
Stock up BIG on the old fashioned light bulbs, go 40 watts if permissable, do your part in saving the planet!
Fluorescent light bulbs are great!!
I throw them at the osprey to keep them away from the pile of kepone laced rat poison containers I have stored down by the river...
Early failures?
I heard somewhere that since the bulbs are being made in low grade chinese factories there is a high rate of premature failure on them? I too am a believer that LED will take over, but we aren't quite there yet. I had two LED PAR can lights that were capable of full color mixing (127 shades of red + blue + green), but they both failed. Board construction was horrible in the devices, and white (when r+g+b was all fully on) wasn't balanced right so it looked sort of pink. Still neat though.
Light Bulb Tips
Before you go out and buy this type of bulb, pay attention to the size of the old bulb, & how much clearance is left between the bulb & the glass cover, or globe, especially in ceiling lights..& on ceiling fans, etc..If you have a dimmer switch too, ask the person selling these bulbs if they will work with a dimmer switch..Maybe science has now found a way, but......I'm guessing not yet.
It's Earth Day!!
And tomorrow is Wednesday...
...big deal.
Why Not the LED Bulbs, Now and Today
The CFLs are not the best thing going. They may save some pennies over time and last nearly forever, but the mercury residue remains a real problem. The State of Maine has performed studies on broken bulb problems and clean up procedures. That complete report and data are available on-line from their environmental agency. Has VA or VEPCO performed such a study for our exposed citizens? It has been said that mercury from three thermometers will contaminate a large lake to the point where fish cannot be eaten by many folks in sensitive conditions. Bulbs go to the dump unless recycled/returned to their source. Dumps drain directly to the environment or treatment plants where the mercury will go into sludges or the environment at discharge. Light Emitting Diodes (LED) have no mercury and are as effective as the two bulb types current in use. More fully develop this technology now and today. We always fix one problem to only make a new one. Regardless of the source, mercury is a potent and often hidden danger that may get us all in time.