EnergySaverBulbs

From Wiki

You read about them in the flyers from your electric utility. You see them on the shelves in the hardware store. They may cost more. But we're told they last longer and use less energy than traditional bulbs. OK, your convinced. But are they really the green thing to do?

They may be pretty green from an energy consumption point of view. But what about environmentally? Well, that depends on what you do with them after they go dark on you. What most people -- especially in residential situations -- don't know is that (1) they're a hazard to the environment and (2) they are recyclable.

The Benefits of CFLs: Compact Flourescent Lamps

According to the Energy Star Web Site (run by the US Government): "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars."

According to the Energy Star Site:

• ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.
• Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.
• Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.
• Are available in different sizes and shapes to fit in almost any fixture, for indoors and outdoors.

Why CFLs Can be an Environmental Hazard Too

What most people don't know about common CFLs (and many other lamps) is that they contain small amounts of mercury. According to a PDF file on the Energy Star site:

CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 5 milligrams – about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury. It would take 100 CFLs to equal that amount.

Mercury currently is an essential component of CFLs and is what allows the bulb to be an efficient light source. No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact or in use. Many manufacturers have taken significant steps to reduce mercury used in their fluorescent lighting products. In fact, the average amount of mercury in a CFL is anticipated to drop by the end of 2007 thanks to technology advances and a commitment from members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

Mercury is an element (Hg on the periodic table) found naturally in the environment. Mercury emissions in the air can come from both natural and man-made sources. Coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source because mercury that naturally exists in coal is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity. Coal-fired power generation accounts for roughly 40 percent of the mercury emissions in the U.S. EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations EPA issued in 2005, mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants will drop by nearly 70 percent by 2018. The use of CFLs reduces power demand, which helps reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency:

[Mercury] can end up in streams, lakes, or estuaries, where it can be transferred to methylmercury through microbial activity. Methylmercury accumulates in fish at levels that may harm the fish and the other animals that eat them. Mercury deposition in a given area depends on mercury emitted from local, regional, national, and international sources....

....Analyses conducted for the Mercury Study Report to Congress suggest that some highly-exposed wildlife species are being harmed by methylmercury. Effects of methylmercury exposure on wildlife can include mortality (death), reduced fertility, slower growth and development and abnormal behavior that affects survival, depending on the level of exposure. In addition, research indicates that the endocrine system of fish, which plays an important role in fish development and reproduction, may be altered by the levels of methylmercury found in the environment.

What to do with spent CFLs

Four questions are:

1. How many CFLs are sold per year?
2. CFLs are packaged very differently than their incandescent counterparts. What abou the environmental impact of that packaging and how buyers dispose of it?
3. What percentage of spent CFLs are simply tossed in the trash?
4. Does the harm done by one improperly disposed CFL outweigh the gains in terms of energy savings and, subsquently, the reduction of mercury "deposits" by a power plant?

If you know the answer to these questions and can cite authoritative resources, please feel free to edit this article.

Meanwhile, instead of weighing the efficacy of CFLs against their environmental impact (as well as that of their packaging), there's something else we can do.

1. Recycle them. The Web has several listings (one here) of facilities that recycle spent mercury-containing lamps or that "claim to handle those lamps so that they end up at a recycling facility."
2. Recycle the packaging. The packaging for CFLs generally includes two very recyclable materials: common plastic (accepted by most recyclers) and paper (usually sandwiched inside the plastic. It takes a bit of work to recycle CFL packaging because extracting the paper can be an exercise in utility. But it is doable.