Are Energy Efficient Light Bulbs Good or Bad?

Conserving electricity can be a great way to help our environment. One way to conserve electricity is to use compact fluorescent light bulbs. These energy efficient light bulbs are known to use one third less energy than a 100 watt light bulb. Which can lower your electric bill as well as conserve some electricity. Using these energy efficient bulbs can go a long way for those of us who need to cut the cost of our electric bill. This can be beneficial at a time when construction costs along with pressures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions make building power plants difficult. When energy consumption and power demands become more important that's when these energy efficient light bulbs can help.

The demand for energy forces producers to sell these light bulbs in hopes of lowering the consumption of electricity. If you reduce energy consumption than you are reducing the demand for electricity. These compact light bulbs are made to help this situation. Some energy saving light bulbs are supposed to last for seven years. Promising to use only 13 watts per bulb. As well as lasting 8,000 hours. For the consumer to save energy costs they must first find the bulb with the light output they need. Then, choose the one with the lowest watt. These bulbs have the energy star logo displayed on the packaging. A soft white CFI bulb is supposed to use 75% less energy than a regular 60 watt bulb. In a small effort to help the consumption of electricity these energy efficient bulbs seem the way to go. Yet, are they really helping the environment?

When these bulbs are used up and no longer have a purpose they are discarded into the trash. Most are just thrown away and taken off to the landfill. However, did you know these bulbs contain a metallic chemical element called mercury. Mercury is extremely poisonous and one of the few substances that have no natural function in the human body. Humans can absorb mercury through the skin just by touching the substance. In fact, most of the fluorescent energy efficient bulbs state on their packaging, to only handle them by the base of the bulb when removing or installing them.

For a long time scientist thought mercury was harmless. Industrial wastes containing mercury were dumped into large bodies of water. Once mercury was in the water it infected the fish. In the 1950s more than 100 people in Japan were poisoned by the Mercury infected fish and 43 people died. Today dumping of mercury is still found in products such as electrical switches, fluorescent lamps and bulbs.

So when you use these bulbs you do save money which is a good benefit for your budget. However, you must recycle them. If these bulbs end up in a landfill they will just poison our Earth. Not everyone has access to a recycling center or recycling service in their area. This rings true especially for those who live in rural areas and this is where using products like energy efficient mercury filled light bulbs could become and issue. However, this is another story for some other time. So, take responsibility and recycle those energy efficient bulbs or we may have a whole other issue on our hands.

resources:

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lighting.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/30/world/japan-calls-mercury-poisoned-bay-safe-now.html

www.lamprecycle.org