The new CFL light bulbs. A great idea!! Right?!

Hi Everyone!! :o)

I hope you're OK.

To go 'green' - "Simply replace the usual 75-watt incandescent light bulbs with 18-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs. These provide about the same light output, use a fraction of the energy and last up to 13 times longer." Says an article from BBC NEWS.

Sounds wonderful - doesn't it?!

And only a SELFISH person, someone who does NOT care about the world we live in, would refuse to use the new bulbs. RIGHT?!

Maybe. But then again - maybe not.

Without question - those incandescent light bulbs that we have all been using for 100+ years ARE energy inefficient. Most of the energy they create turns into HEAT and not LIGHT.

But just how much do we REALLY KNOW about the CFL's?! [Compact Fluorescent Light-bulbs]

And are they SAFE?!

SURE... if we all used them [And we will very soon not have a right to choose whether or not we do] 'we' will save money and energy.

But I ask again.... ARE THEY SAFE?!

According to Canada's 'EnergyStar' website [A website in favour of the new bulbs] this is what you do if you ever BREAK a CFL.

"Open the windows, leave the room and close the door. After an hour or so, the air will have circulated. Using gloves, sweep the bits of broken CFL into some newspaper. Avoid using a vacuum. Wipe the area well with a disposable cloth. Place the debris and the rag into a seal-able plastic bag and dispose of it as you would any HAZARDOUS material. It will be safe in a cardboard box until this is convenient. Done"

Convenient?

Is that their idea of convenient?!

Is that their idea of SAFE?!

25 watt CFL's [Which is what most people will use to replace the old bulbs they are using now] have 5 milligrams of mercury per bulb. And given the fact that the bulbs are quite new and have yet to burn out and be disposed of in any significant number - no one knows for SURE just what the impact of those disposed of CFL's will have on the environment. In the U.S. alone it is quite possible that [From 2010 and beyond] anywhere from 80 to 100 MILLION improperly disposed of CFL light bulbs will will be dumped - literally - into our landfills each and every year. [And that information is from a PRO CFL light bulb website] The amount of mercury in that many CFL's will create an INTOLERABLE TOXIC BURDEN to the environment.

And that is exactly what we will be facing. Don't kid yourself.

The price we all ALL going to PAY for the enforced use of CFL's is going to be quite devastating.

But there is more to the story...

Many doctors - including Sanjay Gupta who most of us have seen on CNN - are very concerned about the effect CFL's will have on our HEALTH. [Even if they don't break] Dr. Gupta can't help but be concerned when it comes the effect of CFL's on migraine sufferers and those who have a history of epileptic 'fits'.

But the hell with them - right?

WE ARE SAVING THE ENVIROMENT!!

So I ask again...

At what ultimate cost?!

Now don't get me wrong - I think the there are many practical uses for CFL's. Apartment and office building hallways - for instance. And many other places where a light is always on. But to force people to use CFL's for EVERY SINGLE LIGHT they have in their home [With the exception of some appliances - like the oven] is a direct attack on the idea of freedom. Encourage the use of CFL's? Sure. And you can do that by making the cost of a CFL light bult about the same as the old incandescent light bulb. But to outright BAN [As Canada and other countries are about to do] is silly. And will quite possibly turn into one of the biggest environmental disasters that man has ever brought onto the world.

I say...

For the SAKE of the environment....

Do NOT ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs.

GBH - Craig!! :o)