Use CFLs Despite the Mercury

With the skyrocketing use of compact fluorescent lights comes a concern about mercury. Each CFL contain about 5 milligrams of mercury, the toxic metal that has caused, among other issues, public health officials in north eastern states to recommend that pregnant woman not eat too much fish. Some people are considering not installing CFLs, despite the significant energy savings and beneficial effect on global warming emissions, for fear of exposure to mercury during use and disposal considerations.

A fact sheet at the Energy Star website compares the amount of mercury in CFLs to other household items that we are all familiar with: "older home thermometers contain 500 milligrams of mercury and many manual thermostats contain up to 3000 milligrams. " In other words, you could install CFLs in your entire house and still not have as much mercury as in the thermometers that we used to put in the mouths of our children.

As for disposal, there is one word: recycle. If you live in Kennebunk, Maine, you can bring CFLs to the Kennebunk Light and Power District offices and they can recycle them for you. Or, many towns have an annual hazardous waste collections day where CFLs can be accepted for recycling. If neither of these options are feasible, then go to the Earth911 website (http://www.earth911.org/) to find other locations. If a bulb breaks, sweep (do not vacuum) the debris, place into a plastic bag, and recycle. There is no significant risk from exposure to such a small amount of mercury.

If you choose to not recycle (and I really hope that you DO recycle your CFLs), you will still be reducing the amount of mercury emitted to the environment. The reduction in power plant emissions is estimated to be more than twice as much as the 5 milligrams of mercury that are released when a CFL is thrown in the trash.

CFLs are a cheap, easy way to reduce your carbon footprint and help to stop global warming and climate change. Though they contain mercury, their benefits far outweigh the risks that they pose.

Another Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb Campaign

Previously, I wrote about the One Billion Bulbs website and it's efforts to get Americans to replace their incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). There is a significant reduction of global warming pollution when CFLs are used - and homeowners save money, too. Installation of CFLs is often encouraged as the first step to take when trying to reduce energy bills and carbon dioxide emissions.

I found another website trying to motivate the public to install CFLs. Yahoo! has created a website called 18Seconds.org - claiming that it only takes 18 seconds to install a CFL - and, thus, make a difference against global warming. The website states:

"What kind of difference can one CFL make? Consider this: If every American swapped just ONE bulb for an ENERGY STAR labeled CFL, it would collectively save more than $8 billion in energy costs, prevent burning 30 billion pounds of coal, and remove 2 million cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions from our atmosphere. Just imagine the difference we could make if we replaced all of the lights we use most!"

The site also points out that if you've considered trying CFLs in the past, but were turned off by the high price or the lack of styles, it is time to look again. Prices have come down dramatically over the last few years. In many places, there are also rebates and government subsidies for CFLs. In Maine, an organization called Efficiency Maine (click here for more information) offers an in-store coupon to reduce the cost of CFLs.

As for styles, the days of few options are behind us. In the past, the only CFLs available were the spiral ones that replaced the 40/60/100W incandescent bulbs in what I think of as "normal light fixtures". Today, there is a CFL to fit virtually any lighting situation. Small globes, large globes, dimmable - even ones that look similar to the traditional light bulb with no visible spirals.

If you haven't already, take the 18 seconds necessary to replace an incandescent bulb with a CFL. If you have already replaced one, then do another. This is the easiest and, I think, most cost-effective way to begin to reduce your carbon footprint.

See the Wikipedia entry to learn about CFLs.