Bright Light, Clean Disposal: Fluorescent Lamps

Posted by Lisa Carey

Fluorescent lamps and lighting aren’t just for offices and malls anymore. Find out how your can have bright lights in your home and clean disposal of these money and eco friendly lights.
Fluorescent lamps and especially the compact fluorescent lights generally referred to as CFLs, are a more eco-friendly lighting solution than incandescent lights. While more and more people are going green in their homes to help protect the environment, florescent light bulbs have had a reputation to overcome. The long term economical savings and reduced maintenance for florescent lights were first taken advantage of in commercial or institutional properties. Many people may associate fluorescent lamps with office cubicles or government buildings.
For those who did give fluorescent lamps a try at home in years past they may have discovered an annoying lag time before a fluorescent light was fully bright. They may have noticed that fluorescent lighting just didn’t seem to compliment peoples skin tone, in other words people just didn’t look as good in fluorescent lights.

That’s all changed. Today they come on instantly and the color is very close to the warm colors of incandescent lights. In fact, Russel Leslie, director of Lighting Research Center at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute says, “We’ve done the tests,” and he explains that “With current technology, you can’t distinguish the difference unless you see the light bulb.” he said.
Why are fluorescent lamps better?
Compared to incandescent lights, fluorescent lamps are simply a green choice. They use less electricity, which saves users money and reduces the environmental impact. In fact, compact fluorescent lights use 75% less electricity and they last ten times longer. In the lifetime of a compact fluorescent bulb, there’s a savings of $45.00 in energy costs and that’s for each one.
Less energy means fewer emissions. In fact, over the life time of a bulb CO2 emissions will be reduced by 67 pounds and again that is just for one incandescent bulb replaced by a fluorescent bulb.
When a fluorescent bulb last ten times longer, it has to be replaced less often which is money saving again and convenient for homeowners.
Is there any bad news about fluorescent lamps?
One short term disadvantage, that is quickly recouped by electricity savings and the fact that they last much longer and need to be replaced less often, is that fluorescent lights costs more than incandescent lights. An equivalent fluorescent light bulb that cost around a dollar will costs around $4.00. Even without factoring in the electricity savings and the eco-friendly attributes, it’s easy math to see that a $4.00 light bulb that lasts ten times longer an actually save you $6.00.
The biggest disadvantage of fluorescent light bulbs has been related to disposal or recycling but great steps are being made to eradicate this disadvantage. Since fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, environmentally minded people know that they should not be tossed into the garbage.
And there are some other negatives to CFL’s as well:
A representative from Texas has a negative take on CFL’s:

And here’s a satire on a “consumer report” about how good CFL’s are for the environment:

So how can you safely dispose of fluorescent light bulbs?
IKEA stores are offering free, safe disposal of fluorescent light bulbs through their “Free Take Back” program. All IKEA stores have recycling bins for fluorescent light bulbs. Home Depot stores also offer free CFL recycling.
Another option is a Compact Fluorescent Recycling Kit available from www.thinkgreen.com. The CFL Recycling Kit has a re-sealable VaporLok bag that holds 15 spent CFL bulbs and it includes a pre-paid shipping label. The kit cost $16.95, which will add a little over a dollar cost to each compact fluorescent bulb but when you consider the savings CFLs already, CFLs are still are more economical choice.
If you want more free local options for recycling fluorescent light bulbs, you can go to the earth911.org homepage. Simply put in the item you want to dispose of, whether it is CFLs or old paint, add in your zip code and earth911.org will tell you where you can safely dispose of or recycle items in your city or county.
Whatever type of lighting, lamps or bulbs you choose, turning them off when they are not needed is ideal and will mean that fewer bulbs need to be replaced or recycled. It saves you money, by saving energy. But a choice of fluorescent lamps means long term savings of both the money, energy and the environment. Worried about the cost of making replacements? Do it one lamp at a time. Isn’t that how the best green innovations occur; just one person and one improvement at a time?
Whether or not you think CFL’s are a good thing, they are coming to Americans… by 2014, the original incandescent bulb invented by Thomas Edison will be phased out of stores.

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