Mercury Contamination Vs. Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs

phyrebyrd writes "How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labor — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health."

Comments

How much?

[Anonymous Coward]

How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb? The midget prostitute on the street corner told me it would be at least $200.

Re:bullshit

[Lehk228]

also, the FDA says a pregnant woman is safe eating two cans of tuna every week without harming her baby, or taking hits off one broken CF bulb per week.

Someone needs an environmental Chil Pill...

[nweaver]

6x higher than very low state standards?

Just take a fan and blow out the room for a couple of days.

Re:$10 for 6

[drinkypoo]

Seems to me a drop cloth would be a reasonable precaution if working over carpet.

So you put down a drop cloth every time you replace a light bulb?

Are you the most boring person on earth, or what?

Ontario to ban incandescent bulbs by 2012

[roman_mir]

In a 'feel good' move, the premier of Ontario decided that his party will ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012. I am going to make me a business selling those in Ontario on the black market. CFLs can go screw themselves, I am not gonna use them.

Re:Ontario to ban incandescent bulbs by 2012

[LarryWake]

Backwards posting humor:

Q:How many Ontarians does it take to screw in a CFL?

A: None!

CFLs can go screw themselves

Re:bullshit

[igny]

So you are saying it is not safe to eat the CF bulbs?

Re:Steven Milloy

[the_humeister]

But there's a lesson here - if you break a CFL, open the windows and clean it up yourself. Don't lick the floor where it broke. Don't gnaw on the pieces of broken glass. Don't scrape the coating from the inside of the bulb, dissolve it in vodka, and inject it into your neck. Use common sense.

Where were you when my CFL broke? Now I have broken teeth and this weird feeling like I'm drunk...

Re:Does anyone else

[Scrameustache]

quite close to incandescents in color, and have an effectively instant warm up time. Sure, and the dirty corn syrup they serve at IHOP is quite close to maple syrup?
The yellow oily stuff they put on movie popcorn is quite close to butter?

Re:bullshit

[Gilmoure]

But the person with the 20 bedroom house with lights on in all of them to impress the neighbors will still needlessly be using many times the amount of power as the one person with one or two incandescents turned on in their one-bedroom house, and THAT is the problem that needs to be addressed.

Eat the rich?

Re:Steven Milloy

[drew]

No kidding. The article was so obviously biased that I was about ready to turn my monitor on its side...

Re:Schizophrenia

[Rob the Bold]

I like this one: Greenpeace also recommends CFLs while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury-thermometer factory in India.

I guess I'm the same way. One of my inconsistencies is that I enjoy a refreshing rain shower, I like to see the plants turn green and flowers bloom. But I get all upset at flooding. I'm just weird. I like water, so more water is better, right? If more is better, too much is just right.

Turns out I've got weird inconsistencies with other stuff too. Like vitamins and minerals in food. I want to get about 5-10 micrograms of Vitamin D per day. And yet I get all pissy when someone tries to increase the dose to 1 mg/day. What the hell is wrong with me? Do I want rickets or something?

Hahaha... these americans...

[Anonymous Coward]

They still discuss about their FEAR-of-energy-efficient-light-bulbs... (!)

I thank God for NOT being able to receive US television...

Re:How about LEDs then

[nick_davison]

Could someone convert those numbers in to candles per hundred-weight of coal for us Americans still using imperial measurements?

Re:No, I buy nice ones.

[Mister Whirly]

Then maybe we should just pass a law "banning" the conversion of elemental mercury into organic mercury. Besides, everyone knows that "organic" is just a scam to charge you more!


And no, I'm not being serious so save the rants...

Re:No, I buy nice ones.

[Mister Whirly]

They were film prop fluorescents, not real ones. Film prop fluorescents have all the mercury removed and then replaced with asbestos, radium, and potassium cyanide...

Re:U$ 2.000 is the environmental cleanup charge

[mikee805]

I am the only the finds it funny that NJ is the only state in the PDF that says to just throw the Mercury in the trash after you clean it up?

Re:Hazmat

[Anonymous Coward]

My father told me about how they played with liquid mercury at school in a science class

It shows.

Re:Does anyone else

[Anonymous Coward]

STFU, Slashdot fanboy!

Down the...Disposal?

[Anonymous Coward]

"A few months later, my kids fried our microwave oven. Again, I tried to find out what the best way to dispose of a microwave is."

I'm sure the nuked cat was easier to get rid of.

Re:Disposal?

[markov_chain]

Pregnant women and children should be removed from a spill site

If your children are pregnant I'd say you have bigger problems than a little spilled mercury ^_^

Re:Hazmat

[TheSkyIsPurple]

>I'm sure glad I don't smoke anymore. It sure would be a pain in the ass.

I don't think you're doing it right

Re:Does anyone else

[valkraider]

I want good environmental LED lights dag nabbit.

They are on their way. They are being delivered by flying car.

Re:No, I buy nice ones.

[valkraider]

The Humor Bus just ran over your dog.