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Area stores promote energy-efficient bulbs, but disposal poses problems
by None
Midland Reporter-Telegram
Area stores promote energy-efficient bulbs, but disposal poses problems
By Maggie Hyde
MRT Correspondent
Local merchants are having no problems selling the highly touted energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulb even as concerns mount over the bulb's environmental threat due to mercury levels.
Initially introduced in the 1980s, CFLs have been made more accessible to the general public by design changes that make them compatible with almost any light fixture. The bulb, which resembles a fluorescent curly fry, is a more compact form of the long, tubular fluorescent lighting long used in schools and offices.
However, CFL is replacing standard incandescent light bulbs in homes across the nation, due to their reported long-term energy savings. According to the General Electric Co. lighting Web site, the bulbs last up to 10 times longer and to use up to 75 percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs.
"If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified CFL bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than three million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars," Environmental Protection Agency Press Officer Roxanne Smith wrote, in an e-mail response.
In her e-mail, Smith acknowledged the bulbs can pose an environmental and health threat. Like all fluorescent lights, CFLs contain small amounts of mercury that are necessary to make them more efficient lighting sources. But CFLs, because they are meant for home use, have been under greater scrutiny for their mercury content than the more commercially used tubular fluorescent light.
"If you improperly dispose of products with mercury in them, they may break and release vapors, which are harmful to human and ecological health," she said. The EPA Web site said children are particularly susceptible to the fumes, which can cause nervous system damage.
Smith clarified that the amount of mercury in CFLs is still very small, though.
"CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing -- an average of four milligrams," she said. " By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury."
There is a required warning featured on each CFL light bulb box, with an Hg chemical symbol and a Web site for consumers to refer to for disposal. It states clearly the light bulbs contain mercury, although on some packaging it was not very prominently located on the bottom of the box.
Lowe's Home Improvement Store shopper Bill Boulton said he has been trying to phase the lights into the fixtures of his house after remodeling. He said he was aware they contained mercury, but because the bulbs lasted such a long time he had not yet replaced any.
"I'm not a scientist," Boulton said, concerning the mercury content and how long they lasted. He said he had a simpler reason for choosing CFL bulbs.
"I like the light," he said.
Mercury warnings, though, haven't done much to curb the overall demand for CFLs. Area hardware stores testify the new bulbs are flying off the shelves.
Westlake Ace Hardware Floor Manager Josue Gomez said in the four years he has been working at the store, they always had stocked CFLs, but in the past two years -- as environmental concerns and energy prices have grown -- they had begun to stock at least 50 percent more. Gomez said he had not seen any great changes in the prices of the light bulbs, just an increase in consumer interest.
"There is a greater demand," Gomez said. "Kind of like the hybrid cars."
He also noted the CFL market is expanding to outdoor lighting, and pointed to the CFL flood lights the store also offered.
Larger stores also have expanded their supply of CFL products. Wal-Mart, as part of its Live Better campaign, pledged to sell 100 million CFL light bulbs in the year 2007. According to the Wal-Mart Web site Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs Fact Sheet, this was accomplished by the introduction of a Wal-Mart private label CFL and by making the light bulbs a more prominent fixture in their stores.
Midland Wal-Mart hardware department manager Larry Villarreal noted the bulbs have become a simple way for consumers to save money at a time when gas and energy prices are high.
He said the CFLs have been selling well in Midland and mentioned the Wal-Mart store in Midland did not provide any further notification of mercury content besides those warnings included on the light bulb manufacturer's packaging. Midland ACE Hardware also did not offer any further notifications.
Villarreal said Wal-Mart also has not recommended any particular disposal site for the light bulbs.
"I'm sure in the future we will," he said, speaking of the CFL's growing market share in the lighting industry and its promoted place in Wal-Mart's stores.
In the meantime, what should area residents do with their burnt-out or broken CFL bulbs?
The EPA recommends all household products containing mercury be disposed in a licensed mercury disposal site, such as a Household Hazardous Waste facility. Unfortunately, no such facility exists in Midland. The nearest facility is in Odessa, but is only open to Odessa citizens.
But according to a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), in the state of Texas, the light bulbs can be legally disposed of in an outdoor trash container with other landfill waste, if they are safely contained in two sealed plastic bags. TCEQ said this is the preferred method of disposal for broken light bulbs when there is no accessible hazardous waste facility.
The Midland and Odessa Home Depot stores also offer a more eco-friendly option. They recently have began a free program that recycles the used -- but not broken -- bulbs.
For full directions on how to handle safely a broken or used CFL, consumers can visit the EPA Web site: www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm, or contact the CFL manufacturer.
By Maggie Hyde
MRT Correspondent
Local merchants are having no problems selling the highly touted energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulb even as concerns mount over the bulb's environmental threat due to mercury levels.
Initially introduced in the 1980s, CFLs have been made more accessible to the general public by design changes that make them compatible with almost any light fixture. The bulb, which resembles a fluorescent curly fry, is a more compact form of the long, tubular fluorescent lighting long used in schools and offices.
However, CFL is replacing standard incandescent light bulbs in homes across the nation, due to their reported long-term energy savings. According to the General Electric Co. lighting Web site, the bulbs last up to 10 times longer and to use up to 75 percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs.
"If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified CFL bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than three million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars," Environmental Protection Agency Press Officer Roxanne Smith wrote, in an e-mail response.
In her e-mail, Smith acknowledged the bulbs can pose an environmental and health threat. Like all fluorescent lights, CFLs contain small amounts of mercury that are necessary to make them more efficient lighting sources. But CFLs, because they are meant for home use, have been under greater scrutiny for their mercury content than the more commercially used tubular fluorescent light.
"If you improperly dispose of products with mercury in them, they may break and release vapors, which are harmful to human and ecological health," she said. The EPA Web site said children are particularly susceptible to the fumes, which can cause nervous system damage.
Smith clarified that the amount of mercury in CFLs is still very small, though.
"CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing -- an average of four milligrams," she said. " By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury."
There is a required warning featured on each CFL light bulb box, with an Hg chemical symbol and a Web site for consumers to refer to for disposal. It states clearly the light bulbs contain mercury, although on some packaging it was not very prominently located on the bottom of the box.
Lowe's Home Improvement Store shopper Bill Boulton said he has been trying to phase the lights into the fixtures of his house after remodeling. He said he was aware they contained mercury, but because the bulbs lasted such a long time he had not yet replaced any.
"I'm not a scientist," Boulton said, concerning the mercury content and how long they lasted. He said he had a simpler reason for choosing CFL bulbs.
"I like the light," he said.
Mercury warnings, though, haven't done much to curb the overall demand for CFLs. Area hardware stores testify the new bulbs are flying off the shelves.
Westlake Ace Hardware Floor Manager Josue Gomez said in the four years he has been working at the store, they always had stocked CFLs, but in the past two years -- as environmental concerns and energy prices have grown -- they had begun to stock at least 50 percent more. Gomez said he had not seen any great changes in the prices of the light bulbs, just an increase in consumer interest.
"There is a greater demand," Gomez said. "Kind of like the hybrid cars."
He also noted the CFL market is expanding to outdoor lighting, and pointed to the CFL flood lights the store also offered.
Larger stores also have expanded their supply of CFL products. Wal-Mart, as part of its Live Better campaign, pledged to sell 100 million CFL light bulbs in the year 2007. According to the Wal-Mart Web site Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs Fact Sheet, this was accomplished by the introduction of a Wal-Mart private label CFL and by making the light bulbs a more prominent fixture in their stores.
Midland Wal-Mart hardware department manager Larry Villarreal noted the bulbs have become a simple way for consumers to save money at a time when gas and energy prices are high.
He said the CFLs have been selling well in Midland and mentioned the Wal-Mart store in Midland did not provide any further notification of mercury content besides those warnings included on the light bulb manufacturer's packaging. Midland ACE Hardware also did not offer any further notifications.
Villarreal said Wal-Mart also has not recommended any particular disposal site for the light bulbs.
"I'm sure in the future we will," he said, speaking of the CFL's growing market share in the lighting industry and its promoted place in Wal-Mart's stores.
In the meantime, what should area residents do with their burnt-out or broken CFL bulbs?
The EPA recommends all household products containing mercury be disposed in a licensed mercury disposal site, such as a Household Hazardous Waste facility. Unfortunately, no such facility exists in Midland. The nearest facility is in Odessa, but is only open to Odessa citizens.
But according to a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), in the state of Texas, the light bulbs can be legally disposed of in an outdoor trash container with other landfill waste, if they are safely contained in two sealed plastic bags. TCEQ said this is the preferred method of disposal for broken light bulbs when there is no accessible hazardous waste facility.
The Midland and Odessa Home Depot stores also offer a more eco-friendly option. They recently have began a free program that recycles the used -- but not broken -- bulbs.
For full directions on how to handle safely a broken or used CFL, consumers can visit the EPA Web site: www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm, or contact the CFL manufacturer.
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Papa Ray wrote on Jul 7, 2008 8:19 AM:
Which is worse, wasting 2 plastic bags which will never degrade, or just throwing them in the trash so when (and if) when they are broken in the trash truck or out at the dump...those terrible, toxic gases are released into the air?
Personally, I'm not going to waste my money on putting them in plastic bags.
Of course, depending how far you have been sucked into the eco-terrorists propaganda, you may do as you think best.
Papa Ray "