I did not know this...

Important information about energy saver light bulbs Ted Poe on the You Tube


How to clean up and dispose of CFL's (.pdf)

Oh, hey. remember when GE made it's US light bulb making workers sign an agreement that they would buy these GE CFL's manufactured in EG's China plants, essentially putting themselves out of work?

Well, well, well. had those bulbs been made here would people have been more aware of how potentially dangerous they'd be.

Leave it to GE to create such a potentially dangerous product...they stick it to the conscientious consumer every chance they get.

You wanna use less electricity, America...No problem. GE will stick you with a product that's even more toxic and they've made sure you can't change your mind by making sure incandescent bulbs are banned.

Supply side economix. How can supply side economics be constitutional?

I realize Poe is probably a KKK member, but he's apparently telling the truth about these CLF light bulbs.

I honestly don't know how people can have ESCAPED knowing about this. I've seen the toxic content of CFLs mentioned in everything from inserts in my electric bill, to stories on the local chatty news, to references in the newspaper and featurey magazines. And, of course, there's the packaging on the lamps themselves. And now there's even information about it at YouTube?

Yes, there will always be people who toss them into the trash instead of saving them for disposal with other hazardous waste (oil, paint, insecticides, aerosol cans, etc), just as there are still folks who think recycling bottles and cans is too much mess and bother, folks who dump used oil in their trash or in the storm drain, and those who throw plastic white shopping bags into the trash.

If there are those who don't know it, Compact Flourescent lights contain toxic materials such as mercury and, if broken, should NEVER be cleaned up by just picking up the pieces as you might have an old incandescent. You also can't just drop them in the trash save them where ever you also store the other materials mentioned earlier for the next hazardous waste collection in your area.

The energy savings through the use of CFLs is astounding. And if you try one and hate the light it produces, experiment with different types, because there is an amazing variety. I use perhaps five different kinds in different applications around my house, and in everything from the architect lamp over my desk, to the front porch light, and every lamp and bulb socket in between. I've had some that produced a glaring "white" light that I hated - like fluorescent tubes in an office - and so have found many much warmer types. I have yet to find, however, a bulb that can be safely used in "cans" (recessed lighting), and they obviously won't work in halogen and similar "high intensity" lamps.

Communist light bulbs that hate America -- what's next?

Hey Bushwa: I can almost guarentee (sic) most people who don't have them probably don't know.

I deed, I've been the at least one "green" site where there was an ad for the CFL's and there wasn't one caution noted.. the j=gist was that you use them just like regular bulbs.

Clearly I'm not as fastidious as you were. There was no warning notice on box for the one I bought...just backed in plastic...

So, If I don't know about it, there's got to be at least a bunch more who don't, too.

I'll be sure to tell my friends, that's for sure.

Every CFL I've bought has warnings all over the package and even on the bulb itself. I've only had to replace one (I accidentally fried it), and recycling it was a snap.

Bushwa is 10000% correct about hazardous waste in household trash. It's not just CFLs, and the amount of mercury in them is miniscule compared to the toxins people throw into landfills from paint, batteries, household cleaners, etc. We need better education about the dangers of throwing crap like that in the ordinary garbage AND better and more easily accessible means of disposing of them properly. A Hg fever thermometer has about 3000mg of mercury, whereas modern CFL bulbs have less than 2mg. Yet there are lots of people who throw out old thermometers in their household trash without thinking twice about it.

The thing is, the "dangers" of CFLs are nothing new. These are inherent in all fluorescent light bulbs (INCLUDING those that used to be made in the US without people being made aware of how potentially dangerous they'd be) that have been a fixture (sorry) in buildings all over the country for almost sixty years.

WoW: Now I really feel dumb.

I'm going to start asking people I know if they know...'cuss I never heard about the toxicity of the CFL's.

Even when watching "Kilowatt Ours" I don't recall them ever mentioning how to discard the bulbs properly or what to do when they break.

Maybe I did read it once before I bought one and totally forgot about it.