Let us save the environment one stupid decision at a time

Published on September 2, 2009 By taltamir In Politics

In recent news, europe banned incandescent light bulbs above 100 watts, leaving only CFL bulbs, and is moving towards banning incandescents soon.

The USA is on tract to do the same by 2012... and so is pretty much every other western nation.

CFL bulbs are a lot cheaper, they make sense. In fact, a quick bit of algebra shows that throwing away you perfectly working incandescent and buying a CFL replacing will save you money. Yet some people choes incandescents for various functions for various reasons. Most people i know use a mix of both, depending on the functinality desired. The governments of the "free nations" beleive that you are too stupid to make this decision, and it should be made for you... to save the environment.

The specific reason given for such bans is to save the environment, CFL consume less power, and as a result you will have less carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere (which is a BS argument, but another issue for another day)...

The thing is, those CFL bulbs have mercury in it. Remember how bad throwing electronics and batteries in the trash is? because mercurity pollutes the underground water? because mercury causes horrible diseases in people? etc...

This is all now forgotten. Well sorta. They warn that if you break such a bulb you need to RUN OUT OF THE ROOM due to the mercury vapours released... 3 hours later you may return and clean the debries using gloves. And all peices (and whole burned out bubls) must be disposed of special collection programs (which don't yet exist). This figure goes down to 20 minutes if a window was open in the room when it broke (don't stay to open one).

This is quite disconcerning, I broke several of those bulbs and never evacuated or used gloves to clean up... also i have been throwing all of those in the trash, because, as of yet, there is no collection program from CFL bulbs...

So enjoy your new freedom of not having a choice. of using bulbs that might not fit your needs (for example, they cannot be dimmed), of using bulbs that are dangerous... and of using bulbs that pollute the environment with mercury instead of emitting harmless carbon dioxide.

Comments

CharlesCS

on Sep 02, 2009

Well, I wouldn't go as far to that CFL will be the only option. Ther are always candles. J/K

However, LED lights are starting to get better as time goes by. Although today they remain somehwta expensive compared to CFL and incandescent light bulbs, they still have features that can make the extra cost worth it and with time they will drop in price as they become more mainstream. They can be almost as bright as a 100w light bulb, they produce less heat, can last 5 to 6 times longer than a CFL bulb and use very little enenrgy to work so in the end they light up as much, produce less heat, last much longer and waste less energy saving you more money and the enviroment at the same time.

Leauki

on Sep 02, 2009

Ther are always candles.

I light candles for Hannukah and during blackouts. Both happen about once a year in Dublin.

CharlesCS

on Sep 02, 2009

I light candles for Hannukah and during blackouts. Both happen about once a year in Dublin.

I use them when power ourtages and also when I get my power shut off, happens at least once a year. But I do like candles and light them once in a while just for the glow.

taltamir

on Sep 02, 2009

LEDs are very promising, but the most powerful you can currently BUY is weaker than a 40 watt incandescent.

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