I'm not sure how long ago I switched to using Compact Florescent Bulbs, maybe 3 or 4 years ago. Last night, I finally had one die. I had bought some replacements, like I would have done with regular bulbs, and they've sat around for long time. Yes the bulb life is a lot longer than regular bulbs.
Now I have to go to the town trash and recycling depot to drop off the bulb since it contains mercury. It's hazardous waste and I can't just throw it out with the regular trash. Seems dumb to make a trip to throw out one bulb. How much gas would that waste? How much greenhouse gas emitted. Even if I had an electric car, the electricity to run it for the trip would come from somewhere.
I don't generate a lot of hazardous waste. I suppose I should wait for a few more CFLs to die. I wonder how long that will be?
Update: The New York Times has an article, Light Bulbs: Which Do You Use?. The average life of a CFL is 4.5 years.
6 comments:
Home Depot takes them back as well.
Not being you, I go there pretty infrequently as well. Especially as I just got 36 batteries for $12 from them recently. I'm set for a while.
BTW, I recently looked into whether or not I could buy LED light bulbs to replace some 50w Halogen "Gu10" bulbs in a kitchen light fixture. We have low ceilings, and standing under this fixture with the Halogens on is somewhat like standing under a french fry warmer. Turns out the tech doesn't quite exist yet, despite the fact that Dean Kamens managed to light his entire house in LED. I tried several sites, and no one had anything equivalent to offer. There are some low-power ones, but nothing that I've found to light a room. However this month's issue of Carnegie Mellon Today (it doesn't appear to be on the Web yet) had an article about two CMUers who essentially invented LED accent lighting, and towards the end of the article it mentioned that a)Phillips bought them out for a gazillion dollars and b)they are still working on the process for manufacturing good old fashioned white home lighting using LEDs. Perhaps I could offer to be a beta site.
Ah yes, the Home Depot 33-cent battery deal. I know it well. Many a My Little Pony toy has been powered on that deal.
If you break the fluorescent bulb inside it is also recommended to open a window as the gas is actually not good for you. I'm too lazy to find the info to back this up, but I'm sure its out there.
I've specified Color Kinetics stuff and its still accent and 'feature' lighting. There will be LED light bulbs to replace CFLs and halogens but they're not perfect. They give off a lot of heat (in the back, not from the bulb) and are not yet bright enough to throw light very far. Here's a project a German firm did (they also did the Genzyme building here in Kendall Square with my firm) with LEDs as the predominant light source. It was not cheap. http://www.architonic.com/trends/7000049/
I just keep the dead ones in a bag on a hook and the plan is when the bag fills up I will take them to home depot. I have 2 so far, they do last a long time.
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