Has anyone else read the fine print; Re Green Energy Conscious - Light Bulbs?

Question

I bought a bunch of them thinking it would be good for the environment & to save on my energy bills.

But after I swaped out my old bulbs, I sat to read the lesser known details in the packaging.

Of the three brands I tried, they all contain Mercury. When I went back to the store, and read the manufacturers content on all the brands: These "so-called-Green-conscious" energy saver light bulbs all have Mercury in them.

Doesn't anyone else know that mercury is a toxic substance? Eventually when they do expire, everyone else will just toss them in the trash. We're gonna have a renewed problem of mercury being in the environment.

I remember the hub-bub, of toxic waste being in the environment back in the 60's due to industry * mercury was one of the problem substances that caused cancer and birth defects.

These new bulbs really aren't as "green conscious" as we were led to believe.

Answer 1

Like anything else "environmental" people just drink the Kool-Aid without considering the negatives of the supposedly friendly alternative.  Clearcutting forests for corn ethanol is one. Mercury in these light bulbs could be a minor issue considering you may need to change out your rugs, paintings, and sofas after they've faded under fluorescents for a few years.

Answer 2

I've heard that before! That's aweful! We somehow have to weigh the consequences of doing certain things. Is it better to risk our human health or save the rest of the planet! It's so hard to make the right decisions! Somehow, everything that we do will have a negative and positive side. :(

Answer 3

It's all in the buzz words.

You see the mercury will never enter the landfill, the bulbs are very fragile and will break well before getting to the landfill and the mercury in them is vapor so it will end up in our atmosphere.

See, it doesn't end up in the landfill!

Just in our lungs, silly!

The funny thing is that these bulbs don't last the "1,000 years" (just kidding) the label promises, not even by a fraction of that.

The funny thing is electricity costs have gone up just as the electrical usage our bulbs went down, coincidence?

It's just a scam!

once we all start using less electricity and are paying ten times the amount we used to on light bulbs, the electric companies start raising their prices, yet the workers don't get raises, funny!

The same thing is going to happen with the flex fuel car, just wait, gas prices are just going to skyrocket once this corn ethanol is being put in to it, the price will go down at first then watch out!

Answer 4

Mercury in the bulbs increases efficiency (more light per kWh) and therefore, less coal combustion needed to make the electricity we are demanding.  I hope you aren’t suggesting that the individual smart enough to buy and install these high efficiency lights are too dumb to not recycle them once they burn out.  Also, if you assume the mercury bulbs ARE thrown out and the mercury is released into the environment, will it be more or less that the mercury that would have been released from the coal combustion required to power the less efficient light that would have been used in its place?