Back home a local environmental group uses the 'statistic' to attack the use of CFLs due to the propensity of people to thrown spent bulbs into the garbage rather than cart them to local hazardous waste facilities (yes, we're fortunate that our city DOES have a hazardous waste disposal facility), while the local 'green' organization promotes their use via media, bulb exchanges and discount coupons.
We've used flourescent lighting for over 30 years in our commercial buildings and I can tell you from personal experience when someone breaks one tube, everyone in the vicinity scatters as far from the occurence as possible. We've all at one time or another inhaled the vapours that are released and know how unpleasant it is (and how sick some of us have become).
When an employee charged with revamping displays or replacing bulbs manages to 'knock' one of the four light fixtures (4x4 ft long tubes) breaking all the tubes it's a minor disaster!
Of course over the years we've 'disposed' of hundreds of said tubes in the regular garbage that is landfilled!! No warnings or information given regarding mercury contamination or proper disposal. I hate to think how many billons of those things already sit in landfills throughout North America.
While one bulb may not pose a danger, think of hundreds of thousands of them being disposed of every year.........
Again back home, our local landfill is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a 'leachate' facility to capture the leachate from the landfill that has been identified as containing mercury amongst many other toxic chemicals. The leachate has been shown to be polluting groundwater as well as finding it's way to nearby streams,rivers and lakes.
Fortunately the lake it eventually finds its way to is NOT the one the city draws it's drinking water from but many cities have only one source of water.
What happens when this source is contaminated by all these toxic wastes?
Here's five easy ways to dispose of spent CFLs:
How to Dispose of CFLs (Without Dumping Mercury Everywhere) | snarfd
I won't touch on the effect flourescent light sources have on the people who spend the better part of their day exposed to - that's best left for another thread!
We've used flourescent lighting for over 30 years in our commercial buildings and I can tell you from personal experience when someone breaks one tube, everyone in the vicinity scatters as far from the occurence as possible. We've all at one time or another inhaled the vapours that are released and know how unpleasant it is (and how sick some of us have become).
When an employee charged with revamping displays or replacing bulbs manages to 'knock' one of the four light fixtures (4x4 ft long tubes) breaking all the tubes it's a minor disaster!
Of course over the years we've 'disposed' of hundreds of said tubes in the regular garbage that is landfilled!! No warnings or information given regarding mercury contamination or proper disposal. I hate to think how many billons of those things already sit in landfills throughout North America.
While one bulb may not pose a danger, think of hundreds of thousands of them being disposed of every year.........
Again back home, our local landfill is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a 'leachate' facility to capture the leachate from the landfill that has been identified as containing mercury amongst many other toxic chemicals. The leachate has been shown to be polluting groundwater as well as finding it's way to nearby streams,rivers and lakes.
Fortunately the lake it eventually finds its way to is NOT the one the city draws it's drinking water from but many cities have only one source of water.
What happens when this source is contaminated by all these toxic wastes?
Here's five easy ways to dispose of spent CFLs:
How to Dispose of CFLs (Without Dumping Mercury Everywhere) | snarfd
I won't touch on the effect flourescent light sources have on the people who spend the better part of their day exposed to - that's best left for another thread!
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