"RoseGarden" - - - - - - - from - nscave

We've had some information on NSCAVE for some time about CFL or compact fluorescent bulbs regarding burning, installation difficulties in some fixtures, and the mercury content.

Although it has been delayed slightly in Canada, there will come a time when CFLs will be the only type of bulb we are able to buy for replacement. (Realizing LED products are continually being improved and are or soon will be a contender.)

Mercury Disposal

This article from our local newspaper again reflects on one of the negative aspects of the CFL variety of bulbs. Mercury and mercury disposal.

One possible solution, "might be just like a bottle-return system, some type of deposit you might pay" as the Chronicle Herald article suggests. That means we are again paying a premium price for something that 'might' improve the environment through higher efficiency.

So, users will be expected to save these expired bulbs, and take them to a disposal place to be disposed of properly. We pay more for the hazardous CFL bulbs, which have a shorter life span under some conditions, have to keep them once they are burned out, then transport them to a disposal facility, where we might get a few pennies back. 

Increased Cost

That means increased costs somewhere because these disposal facilities will require funds and personnel to run them.

Or as the article suggests, "It is anticipated that the proposed regulations would require manufacturers and importers of mercury-containing lamps to establish or join a program that would collect lamps and recover the mercury in an environmentally sound manner..."

We would still have to save and transport the expired bulbs back to the disposal point where ever that may be. The mercury still has to be recycled or disposed of in a safe manner. Will that cost be absorbed by manufacturers or passed on to consumers? You fill in the blank.

For the most part I like compact fluorescent bulbs. But I still wonder why in this technological age everything designed to save the environment or go green always generates added income for some and much higher costs for us.

This work by NSCAVE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License