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Save money on your fuel bills
Those of us who have been using energy saving lightbulbs for the last couple of decades had assumed that the switchover would be gradual, as people realised the benefits, not just in energy [and carbon] saving but in their pockets as well, they would be universally welcomed especially when reduced in price from the £5-8 we've been paying. The government decision to phase out old incandescent bulbs [unchanged since invented by the Victorians], appears to have stirred the usual no-brainers into a spate of overreacting. Having heard that energy efficient bulbs contain mercury, they are now off on one over the 'dangers' of pollution if they break in the home. Nonsense of course, the mercury is in such tiny amounts that you'd need to snort a few hundred bulbs worth to make yourself ill [Amy Winehouse take note], and as they last for at least five years [I've got some which are ten years old] and as you are recommended to recycle them safely and councils have known for some time how to do that, there is little chance many will be thrown into landfill let alone broken up in the home. That doesn't stop the right-wing tabloids' scurrilous scribblers like Ann Lesley shooting their ignorant mouths off. Her particular tabloid, the rank Daily Mail, even had a headline shouting about the dangers of them in typical ignorant fashion, thus scaring their almost illiterate readers into thinking they are all going to be poisoned in their homes, become epileptics, get migraines or even develop cancer once they have no choice about what bulbs they use. Lesley claims she's going to buy up all the stocks of old bulbs in North London before they're banned, which would be more than enough to last her the rest of her useless life even though they last for only a few months. Of course the glass and tungsten put in landfill doesn't bother these people, their concern about the environment is only skin deep; it extends to any slight criticism they can level against environmental measures. Why do low-energy light bulbs contain mercury? It's essential to the way these bulbs work. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) have tubes which contain mercury and argon. When the bulb is switched on, electrons stream from a tungsten-coated coil. They collide with mercury atoms, exciting their electrons and creating flashes of ultraviolet light. A phosphor coating (typically composed of metal oxides or phosphates) on the inside of the tube absorbs this light and re-emits it at visible wavelengths. This is also how fluorescent strip lights work. How much mercury do CFLs contain? Up to 5 milligrams - a tiny amount when compared to the 3 grams in a mercury thermometer. Fluorescent strip lights contain similarly tiny amounts, reduced from the 100 milligrams present in first-generation CFL bulbs. The criticism of the bulbs doesn't stop there. Allied to the mercury scare is a complaint that the light isn't 'friendly' like that from incandescent bulbs; ie. it's more blue than red, just like natural sunlight and an allegation that 'people with skin complaints will be affected' is downright stupid. The very few people who are ultra sensitive to sunlight know how to protect themselves, and if these or other bulbs yet to be invented affect them in any way, alternatives will be available. The vast majority of humans, however, use sunlight to make vitamin D, and any light source which comes closer to natural light is likely to improve vitamin D production during winter months when the sunlight is so much less. There's also the question of SAD [seasonal affective disorder] which some people suffer from in northern countries in the winter resulting in depression. Lighting with a bluer spectrum closer to natural light is likely to aid this also, and the standard treatment for chronic sufferers is specialist lighting of this kind. I recently bought a couple of special energy efficient bulbs with a spectrum close to sunlight, thought they might be helpful for indoor growing, but we are now using them in our workrooms because of the brighter, more natural light they provide. They may even make us more cheerful in the winter! This knee-jerk reaction to anything green; wind farms are the most obvious, but others fall into the category, comes from a small minority who appear to both lack an understanding that if we don't change our behaviour we could actually become extinct and will certainly suffer enormous traumas and loss of life, and also to harbour a deep resentment of what they perceive as a 'left wing conspiracy' to limit choice and force people to behave in a particular way, one advocated for decades by people they despise, hippies. It's always right wing, it's always deeply ignorant, and spouted by people who should know better, but who are addressing a hoarde of ill-educated, ignorant peasants who are easily manipulated. Some of these people are very rich [Noel Edmonds is one example who has used his money to prevent wind turbine sitings] but riches can come to the really stupid on occasions as we know. Once a story like this about bulbs has been set off, the rest of the media repeat it over and over, simplistically of course, with the result that it gains a life of its own, and some think there must be something in it. There isn't. Having used energy efficient bulbs for over twenty years I am still healthy and with no skin problems. The bottom line is; why should the rest of us have to continue destroying the planet because a few dozen non viables have skin problems aggravated by exposure to light like Dracula? Once these bulbs have been supplanted by LEDs, the next generation of even more efficient lighting, they'll find something to object to with those. With some people, you just can't get through. So how to recycle a CFL? CFLs are classified as Waste Electrical or Electronic Equipment (WEEE); meaning that their manufacturers and importers are required to pay for CFL treatment and recycling. In the UK, Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] says that any retailer selling a CFL bulb either has to take back a waste one, or advise on how to take it to a 'Designated Collection Facilities' set up for the purpose. There are over 1400 DCFs in the UK.
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http://www.bltdirect.com/products.php?cat=15
| http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/energy_saving_products/types_of_energy_saving_recommended_products/energy_saving_light_bulbs
| http://www.greenshop.co.uk/acatalog/index.html?http%3A//www.greenshop.co.uk/acatalog/Low_Energy_Light_Bulbs.html&CatalogBody
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Fool on the Hill
A blog about the state of the world
www.oneworldnet.co.uk/blog/index.php
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