I found this hilarious speach by United States Senator Ted Poe. Addressing congress on the topic of low energy light bulbs. Well, they suck. He doesn't come right out and say so, but his arguments are really good and that's the conclusion of what he says. I agree.
So please do not buy theese things, the upsides are not worth it when you compare them to the really major downsides. Especially since there are alternatives that all the upsides without the major downsides, there is a link in the end of the article about them.
The arguments are:
- If a low energy light bulb breaks you have to evacuate the room, since they are filled with toxins you shouldn't breathe in. Ok, sound's great and really environmentally friendly!
- You cannot clean the shattered pieces in an easy way either, you have to wipe it all up, and put all the wipes and pieces in a sealed container like a big glass jar, then send that container to a special facility that can handle toxic waste. Really!
- They cannot for that reason be trashed in the normal household trash, like the common light bulb. So you have to travel a bit to dispose of them. In my city, Stockholm, where about on million people live, there are four places to dispose of theese. Does anyone think that most of theese light bulbs are disposed of in the correct manner? (One estimate which I can't verify is that only about 3% are). Also they have to be left to the facility in pristine condition, not broken that is. In a sturdy leakproof container, correctly labeled. Come on!
- Every low energy light bulb is made in China, this means transports, no local manufacturing and a trade deficit. Also communist regimes don't care very much about the environment and the workers probably don't have it so good either.
Ted Poe addresses congress on low energy light bulbs
Here it is, enjoy!
I did some checking of the fact's in his statement,
Low-energy light-bulb (Compact fluorescent lamp) at Wikipedia
What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks (The instructions Mr Poe mentioned in his speach, from Environmental Protection Agency of the USA)
What should you buy instead?
Theese thingies, they are great!
