How to have a green (and clean) compact flourescent light

What a scam these spiral lightbulbs are. "Going green" is more about sales and advertising (which the Globe loves) than helping the environment. If you slap a "green " label on your product and claim that your product benefits the environment, you can charge more for it and the global warming cult members will buy it. It's a built-in sales demographic for your bogus product.

Not good enough for me. I'll continue to wait for LED bulbs to become a cost-effective alternative, thanks.

While I can understand the concerns of some people - who may have infants/kids in the room (or not) - over the risks posed by a breaking CFL, I have to wonder how big or small is that risk?

I personally do not remember last time I dropped and broke a bulb - any bulb, and I have changed my fair share of bulbs since I went to college. If I have to make a *guess*, I'd say that I broke maybe 1-3 bulbs over past ~12 years while handling them. So, are we worrying about an event, the probability of which happening is very small? Besides, the CFLs are relatively tougher than incandescent bulbs, so depending on how it falls and from what height, a CFL is more likely to survive a fall than a regular bulb. So, for me, the pros outweigh the cons associated with the use of a CFL, and I personally think that the worry over mercury is somewhat misplaced.

Just be more careful when handling a CFL bulb instead of being careless or cavalier. Surely, we humans can summon our powers and make our minds be more attentive when handling a CFL. I mean, we pay attention to the road when driving or biking, right?

I'd ask these same people who are worried about the mercury risk, whether they make decisions in life for other issues based on the same thinking and risk-analysis, or is this kind of thinking an exception when it comes to CFLs? Is it about mercury, or is it about resistance to change and/or changing our habits?

For me, the bigger issue and concern is whether the city of Boston and your local municipality has developed a plan to collect and safely dispose off the used CFLs or not. If we end up throwing used CFLs in trash, it will eventually end up in a landfill and the mercury will make its way into soil and water.

Beth, would you know anything about this (cities and municipalities collecting CFLs)? Thanks.

For me it's a relatively unlikely occurrence, but because mercury is so toxic, and because I have a child at home, it's simply not (in most cases) worth the risk. I do use them in a few ceiling fixtures where the likelihood of breakage is extremely low, but not in floor/table lamps.

And AMIT raises an even bigger issue: disposal. Even if cities and towns come up with reasonable disposal plans, human nature being what it is, I would bet that most people will simply throw the things in the trash. Laziness trumps all else in the end for most people (sadly). So if these bulbs are adopted widely, you have a potentially huge pollution problem on your hands. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a viable solution.

I-luv G-warming:

while I agree that many of the "going green" slogans now are part of advertising campaigns, the CFL bulbs do save a lot of energy.

maybe you should try plugging both an incandescent and CFL bulb to an energy meter and you will figure out how only your statement is "bogus" not the product

Swarles Barkley:

might be awhile. last time I checked, it's about $35 for an LED bulb. they don't emit many lumens either.

why do you have to wait though for energy saving bulbs? if you need to buy a light bulb anyways, why save yourself from it? There are reasons to not like CFL's, but holding off for LED's doesn't seem like a good one. you can easily change over to LED's when they become cheaper

To I-luv G-warming,

You are right to criticize the Globe's coverage of "green" issues- much of what they have printed has been skewed toward consumer greenwashing, sales and advertising. Anything about sustainability that hasn't been written by their actual science writer has been unsubstantive fluff.

You may also be right that "spiral" bulbs (I assume you mean compact flourescent bulbs, regardless of whether they are spiral shaped or not) aren't better for the environment- they are undeniably more energy efficient, but the risk of mercury exposure and the end-of-life disposal issues may not make them a better choice than a conventional lightbulb.

As with many other issues in life, it's a trade off. That's why it's so important for all of us to be critical thinkers- but it's equally important that we not forget why it's important to embrace sustainability when we can. Hopefully, with more critical thinking in the media, and in the general public, "greenwashing" will be exposed for what it is, and be replaced by real, tangible actions that individuals can take that will make a difference.

CFL production is already moving away from the spiral-shape bulb, to the spiral-shape bulb inside a plastic capsule.

The capsule wastes 8% or so of the light, but it also hides the spiral shape, and protects you from any mercury breakage.

Electric generation with coal emits a lot of mercury into our air, which finds its way into our waterways and persists there. That is why pregnant women are advised to stay away from fish, because fish tend to absorb more of it, but it is present almost everywhere by now.

The CFL's save so much energy that if all of the mercury in each bulb was improperly discarded into landfills, and made its way into groundwater, it would still result in less environmental mercury pollution, considering a 54% electricity generation from coal (the average in the US). In other words, over the life of a CFL, the energy savings over incandescent light bulbs of the same light output would translate into less mercury discharge into the atmosphere.

An amount of mercury in one's home due to breaking of the CFLs is a problem, and it has to be cleaned up properly. It can be cleaned up by anyone without special technologies, but care has to be taken. Many people may not be aware of how to do that, and that is one problem with the CFL explosion. However, I see that as a problem that can be solved by educating the population about CFLs, rather than a problem that requires us to stop using them.