Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

Even before Pacific Gas and Electric’s great CFL giveaway, not to mention the point-of-purchase rebate, I was stockpiling the replacement to Edison’s creation in my linen closet. But while it made perfect sense to me to retire the out-of-date and energy-sucking technology of the incandescent bulb, I wondered…Does it make sense to throw away perfectly good light bulbs? I mean, the ones in my lamps and light fixtures were still in working order. Doing their jobs steadily. And since incandescent bulbs aren’t recycled, I would just be adding to the great landfill in, uh, South San Francisco.

The CFL isn’t without controversy. Much hype has flooded the airwaves and Internet about the mercury and lead found in these bulbs. According to the EPA, “over 670 million mercury-containing bulbs are discarded each year,” ultimately to landfills or the incinerator with other municipal waste. While some argue that the amount is miniscule and harmless, others counter that any amount of mercury disposed in an improper way can find its way into the food chain—Tuna, and fish like it, won’t be the only items on the “watch the mercury” list. The EPA estimates that these discarded bulbs release approximately 2-4 tons of mercury per year.

In response to the mercury concern, many states have set up authorized facilities for recycling CFLs and other fluorescent lamps. California’s Universal Waste Law calls for recycling them within one year of collection. If broken, they must be treated as hazardous waste.

Arguments that incandescent bulbs also release mercury into the environment, albeit indirectly, have also been made. An article in US News and World Report notes that chances are at least 50 percent that incandescent bulbs in the US come from coal-powered plants, where mercury isn’t the only likely pollutant. But this was little consolation in my decision-making process.

The benefits of CFLs, saving energy and costs long-term, were clear. They are most certainly the “wave of the future,” given that the US has followed Australia and the EU in proposing a ban on incandescents in the near future. Not to mention that improvements have been made so CFLs can better mimic the warm light of tungsten, or the bright blue of daylight, rather than the sickly green light of traditional fluorescent.

But still, my existing bulbs worked just fine.

So, after swapping out bulbs in a few key, frequently-lit locations, the ongoing plan is to incorporate CFLs as the need arises—in other words, when the old bulbs die. This way I feel less wasteful, but I make the move I planned to make. I had every intention of adopting the bulbs immediately. It was just….

Related Entries

1. Where to Recycle Used CFLs
2. The Brita Filter Dilemma
3. The High-Tech Dilemma: E-Waste