WHY are we being coerced into using the mercury bulbs?

Yes, there is a small amount of mercury in CFLs, (about 10mg). Old home thermometers had about 100mg.

Also, the mercury in the bulb is much less than a power plant generates over the life of an inefficient, incandescent bulbs.

Home Depot, and many other places, will take back CFLs for recycling. They save you money and energy!

hope this helps you reconsider :)

Like you, I was concerned about the mercury contained in the CFL light bulb. Most people do not know this. People should be aware that you should not dispose of these bulb by dumping them into the nearest trash can, but this is true for the majority of the items we dispose of.

The CFL bulb ARE more energy efficient. Please join me in educating the public about more safe recycling practices. It is not enough to continue on the path we are on now. You said it in you question, " how many people do you know who actually recycle?". I believe the answer is getting more people to take responsibility and recycle.

Thanks for your question, now let's try to recruit more recyclers.

If anything, i should thank you for your question, i had no idea that CFL bulbs contained mercury.

I do know alot of people who recycle anything and everything they can, and avoid styrofoam because it cant be recycled.

"In the U.S., lighting manufacturer members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) have voluntarily capped the amount of mercury used in CFLs

In areas with coal-fired power stations, the use of CFLs saves on mercury emissions when compared to the use of incandescent bulbs. This is due to the reduced electrical power demand, reducing in turn the amount of mercury released by coal as it is burned.

In the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that if all 270 million compact fluorescent lamps sold in 2007 were sent to landfill sites, that this would represent around 0.13 tons, or 0.1% of all U.S. emissions of mercury (around 104 tons) that year."

The real enviremetal Problem Comes when Lib Enviros in the us force manufacturing oversees where it cant be regulated.

"In the past decade, hundreds of Chinese factory workers were poisoned and hospitalized because of mercury exposure. Ex.

workers at the Nanhai Feiyang lighting factory in Foshan city where 68 out of 72 were so badly poisoned that they required hospitalization. At another CFL factory in Jinzhou, 121 out of 123 employees were found to have excessive mercury levels with one employee's mercury level 150 times the accepted standard"