The light bulb conspiracy

Al Gore’s Green Tips
August 27, 2007
Following up on a recent blog post on my other blog regarding green technology, here are the top five ways you can become green from none other than Al Gore.

1) Florescent light bulbs: These bulbs are getting better and better. Many people complained about the first generation of these bulbs as they had poor lighting characteristics. Nowadays you will get better looking lights which save money and last longer than incandescents.

Al Gore’s Green Tips
http://blog.tmcnet.com/green-blog/green-living/al-gores-green-tips.asp


these things are made in China..so god knows how much mercury gets into the food chain and the workers...the plants all burn coal to produce them..the come with a tremendous amount of packaging
for a single bulb,they cost substantially more...they do not last as long as they say...and they are toxic waste as well the apparently also have negative effects on autoimmune diseases and diabetes
 
damn it eots.....we have switched to them....esp on vintage lamps..where they just look odd but i knew about disposal...come on ...everyone tosses them in the trash...filling the land fills
 
CFLs give me a headache.

I'm stocking up on the good old incandescent. I also have a lot of halogen spots in my recessed lighting fixtures. I don't think the government is banning those.
 
The old style are mercuric as well. You know.....the ones used in millions of commercial building world wide for decades.
L.E.D is the wave of the future. These CFL's are only your masters "quick, let's make a buck" scam to get 5 times more than a standard bulb costs.
It's nearly as big a scam as selling you sheep bottled water.

OK. Enough seriousness. Let's get back to Charlie Sheen and whaaaaaaaaaa, whaaaaaaaaa Liz is dead......whaaaaaaaaaaa
 
I've been stockpiling since the beginning of the year. Every week the stores have one brand or another on sale. I HATE the cfl's. . they drive me nuts. And did you ever notice the noise these things make? A Constant 'wwhhhrrrr'. This whole forcing of cfl's on us is total bullshit. Where are those who always cry 'the GOP ships jobs overseas' cause that's exactly what happened. Where are those blaming 'Busssh'??? Here's your opportunity, this regulation forced jobs overseas and was signed off on by Bush. Chirp, chirp.

There is a move by Republicans on Capitol Hill to overturn legislation passed by Congress in 2007, and signed by President Bush, requiring all 100-watt incandescent light bulbs to be almost 30-percent more energy efficient by 2012.

Since that means higher costs for a bulb that doesn't last as long as the newer, more-energy efficient ones, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) manufactures in America have stopped making the old ones.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) says it's "insulting" for the government to tell consumers what light bulbs they can buy.

"You restrict my purchases. You don't care about my choices. You don't care about the consumer frankly. You raise the cost of all the items with all your rules, all your notions, that you know what's best for me,” Paul said.

Rand Paul hits the nail on the head, once again.

Congress Wants to Overturn Light Bulb Legislation
 
cfl's give you a headache?

sunshine gives me one...but i am thankful for transitional glasses
Fluorescent lights give me headaches. When i spend long periods of time under them i notice it. I don't get headaches from the same time exposure to incandescent lights. I know it's anecdotal but it's enough for me because i get the headaches.

And sorry but i am not going to wear sunglasses inside and look like some idiot Fonz wannabe.
 
Laws regarding mercury are changing mercurically even as we speak.

Here in Maine issues srurrounding mercury (including non-specific sources of it) are being seriously looked at.

I was marginally involved in that, but the real players who are going after mercury weren't just going after industrial mercury pollution, but ALL sources of it, including, for example, those damned light bulbs, light switches, the mercury switches in autos and trucks, and so forth.
 
Switch to LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. You can buy em at Lowes (Or as we call em "Blowes") If you notice, traffic signal bulbs are being replaced with LED's and they work just fine and have no mercury. They make LED flashlights too.

Shop Lighting & Fans : Light Bulbs : LED Light Bulbs at Lowes.com

Uh did you check out the prices on those things? Seriously?? I mean . . . REALLY???? No fucking way.

I'll stick with stockpiling incandescents until they bring the price of LED waayyyy down.
 
I had a Mercury once ----it made me older.
 

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Switch to LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. You can buy em at Lowes (Or as we call em "Blowes") If you notice, traffic signal bulbs are being replaced with LED's and they work just fine and have no mercury. They make LED flashlights too.

Shop Lighting & Fans : Light Bulbs : LED Light Bulbs at Lowes.com

Uh did you check out the prices on those things? Seriously?? I mean . . . REALLY???? No fucking way.

I'll stick with stockpiling incandescents until they bring the price of LED waayyyy down.
No, I always post links without checking them, like rdean and ShinTao do. :rolleyes:

LED's last much longer than incandescents thus equalizing any price difference. Plus as more of them are made, the price will come down.
LED Lights Vs. Incandescents | eHow.com

Yeah you better stock up on those "dinosaur" light bulbs. I'm not against the incandescent bulb, I can just see the writing in the wall.
I had a Mercury once ----it made me older.
I'm crazy bout a Mercury! I'm gonna' buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road! :lol:
 
Switch to LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. You can buy em at Lowes (Or as we call em "Blowes") If you notice, traffic signal bulbs are being replaced with LED's and they work just fine and have no mercury. They make LED flashlights too.

Shop Lighting & Fans : Light Bulbs : LED Light Bulbs at Lowes.com

Uh did you check out the prices on those things? Seriously?? I mean . . . REALLY???? No fucking way.

I'll stick with stockpiling incandescents until they bring the price of LED waayyyy down.
No, I always post links without checking them, like rdean and ShinTao do. :rolleyes:

LED's last much longer than incandescents thus equalizing any price difference. Plus as more of them are made, the price will come down.
LED Lights Vs. Incandescents | eHow.com

Yeah you better stock up on those "dinosaur" light bulbs. I'm not against the incandescent bulb, I can just see the writing in the wall.
I had a Mercury once ----it made me older.
I'm crazy bout a Mercury! I'm gonna' buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road! :lol:

How much longer do they last because some of what those bulbs cost is freaking ridiculous.

This one is $7.53 for one bulb. It's 10-watt equivalent. What's that equivalent to in incandescent bulbs . . . 60 watt, 75 watt (I'm asking cause I don't know)?

Shop SYLVANIA 10-Watt Equivalent Indoor Soft White LED Light Bulb at Lowes.com

I just picked up a pack of 4 75watt regular incandescent bulbs for $1.07 . . that's about .27 or so per bulb. The LEDs need to last 10 years for me to ever shell out that much for a single bulb.

And no, I'd NEVER imply you were being rweenie-ish. :eek:
 
The cfls give me headaches also. LEDs flicker as well, so they aren't an option. It doesn't bother me as long as there is another light source also available. So if it is daytime and they are on in the kitchen but there is plenty of daylight coming in I don't get a headache. But if it is night and the only light is from the fluorescent bulbs I get a headache after a while.
 
Oh well I don't know what we're all bitching about. It seems that if you don't have to call in a haz mat crew it's all just peachyyyy.

Like batteries, used CFLs need to be disposed at a toxic waste depot rather than tossed out with the ordinary household trash. Because mercury is cumulative, this poisonous element would add up if all the spent bulbs went into a landfill. Instead, the mercury in dead bulbs is reclaimed at such depots and recycled.

Give me a buzz in 30 years when tons of these things are in landfills leaching mercury.

As to the potential for harm posed by mercury escaping from broken bulbs, says the King County Hazardous Waste Program: "Crushing and breaking fluorescent lamps release mercury vapor and mercury-containing phosphor powder. These can be difficult to contain." Yet the recommended clean-up process does not involve calling in a HazMat team. Says the EPA in its advisory about dealing with broken CFLs:

So mercury from a broken cfl bulb is dangerous and requires the following steps just to clean the damn thing up . . . yet in eots vid, above, they're trying to spew that mercury used as a preservative in vaccines is actually good for us?? :cuckoo: Do they really think people are that stupid?

Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

1. Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

4. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
5. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
6. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
7. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug

8. Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
9. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
10. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
11. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

12. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
13. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
14. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming

15. The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
16. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

Maine's Department of Environmental Protection concurs, even though it affixes additional steps and cautions to the process:
What if I accidentally break a fluorescent bulb in my home?

The most important thing to remember is to never use a vacuum. A standard vacuum will spread mercury containing dust throughout the area as well as contaminating the vacuum. What you should do is:

* Ventilate the area.

* If possible, reduce the temperature.

* Wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses, coveralls or old clothing, and a dust mask to keep bulb dust and glass from being inhaled.

* Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container.

* Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. There are several ways to do this. You can use a disposable broom and dustpan, two stiff pieces of paper or one of the many commercial mercury spill kits available.

* Put all material into an airtight plastic bag. Pat the area with the sticky side of duct, packing or masking tape. Wipe the area with a damp cloth.

* Put all waste and materials used to clean up the bulb in a secure closed container and label it "Universal Waste - broken lamp".

* Take the container for recycling as universal wastes. To determine where your town has made arrangements for recycling of this type of waste, call your town office or check out the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) website at
Fluorescent Bulb Disposal, Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection Remember, the next time you replace a bulb, be sure to put a drop cloth on the floor so that any accidental breakage can be easily cleaned up.

snopes.com: CFL Mercury Light Bulbs
 
Comparing the purchase price of an LED to an incadescent does not reveal the entire picture. The LED uses far less energy and when you compare those costs into the equation they quickly overcome incadescents. I've had two burning 24 hours for the last 4 years outside and they are still going strong. I did the same with CFL's and they lasted about a year. Before that I was replacing incadescents every month.

Uh did you check out the prices on those things? Seriously?? I mean . . . REALLY???? No fucking way.

I'll stick with stockpiling incandescents until they bring the price of LED waayyyy down.
No, I always post links without checking them, like rdean and ShinTao do. :rolleyes:

LED's last much longer than incandescents thus equalizing any price difference. Plus as more of them are made, the price will come down.
LED Lights Vs. Incandescents | eHow.com

Yeah you better stock up on those "dinosaur" light bulbs. I'm not against the incandescent bulb, I can just see the writing in the wall.
I had a Mercury once ----it made me older.
I'm crazy bout a Mercury! I'm gonna' buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road! :lol:

How much longer do they last because some of what those bulbs cost is freaking ridiculous.

This one is $7.53 for one bulb. It's 10-watt equivalent. What's that equivalent to in incandescent bulbs . . . 60 watt, 75 watt (I'm asking cause I don't know)?

Shop SYLVANIA 10-Watt Equivalent Indoor Soft White LED Light Bulb at Lowes.com

I just picked up a pack of 4 75watt regular incandescent bulbs for $1.07 . . that's about .27 or so per bulb. The LEDs need to last 10 years for me to ever shell out that much for a single bulb.

And no, I'd NEVER imply you were being rweenie-ish. :eek:
 

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