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Why light bulbs are accelerating global warming and mercury contamination Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

But what about cfls? Everybody's crazy about cfls all of a sudden, it seems. People know that cfls use only about 1/3rd the electricity of incandescent lights. Of course, they flicker and hum, and they take a long time to warm up, but they do save on electricity compared to the extremely inefficient incandescent light bulb. So what's not to like about cfls? Mercury, for one thing. All fluorescent lights contain mercury, period. It's the dirty little secret of the CFL industry.

Breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb could cost you $2,000 in toxic mercury cleanup Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Celebrities, political candidates and retailers including Wal-Mart continue to promote cfls as an economical and "green" alternative to other types of lighting. Even the EnergyStar division of the Environmental Protection Agency -- while admitting on its website that cfls contain mercury -- stops short of calling a broken CFL "hazardous." Like most proponents of cfls, EnergyStar fails to mention the long-term dangers to the environment and the short-term dangers to well-meaning consumers who accidentally break a compact fluorescent light bulb.

Why light bulbs are accelerating global warming and mercury contamination Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Everybody's crazy about cfls all of a sudden, it seems. People know that cfls use only about 1/3rd the electricity of incandescent lights. Of course, they flicker and hum, and they take a long time to warm up, but they do save on electricity compared to the extremely inefficient incandescent light bulb. So what's not to like about cfls? Mercury, for one thing. All fluorescent lights contain mercury, period. It's the dirty little secret of the CFL industry.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

For years, cfls, which save more energy and last longer than standard bulbs, languished in the U.S. market—despite their success in Europe, where consumers pay much higher energy costs. (Holland's penetration rate for cfls is around 50 percent, compared with the United States' rate of less than 10 percent.) Why didn't cfls take off in the States? Among other reasons, U.S. consumers didn't care for the quality of their light output, and the bulbs didn't fit many existing lighting fixtures.

Breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb could cost you $2,000 in toxic mercury cleanup Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

REPPED: While large-scale marketing efforts tout cost savings of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), few are explaining the real cost -- to the environment and to individuals -- of broken or discarded cfls. One consumer has learned that accidentally breaking a CFL could cost her more than $2,000. According to the newspaper Ellsworth American, Brandy Bridges of Prospect, Maine, has been given a conservative quote of $2,000 for toxic cleanup of one CFL broken in her home. Bridges broke the CFL as she was installing it in her daughter's bedroom.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

Holland's penetration rate for cfls is around 50 percent, compared with the United States' rate of less than 10 percent.) Why didn't cfls take off in the States? Among other reasons, U.S. consumers didn't care for the quality of their light output, and the bulbs didn't fit many existing lighting fixtures. But things changed as the quality of CFLs' light improved, as they were adapted to fit a wider variety of fixtures, and as they got cheaper. Equally important was the fact that Philips changed the bulbs' name from Earth Light to Marathon.

Breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb could cost you $2,000 in toxic mercury cleanup Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Even the EnergyStar division of the Environmental Protection Agency -- while admitting on its website that cfls contain mercury -- stops short of calling a broken CFL "hazardous." Like most proponents of cfls, EnergyStar fails to mention the long-term dangers to the environment and the short-term dangers to well-meaning consumers who accidentally break a compact fluorescent light bulb.

Why light bulbs are accelerating global warming and mercury contamination Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

People know that cfls use only about 1/3rd the electricity of incandescent lights. Of course, they flicker and hum, and they take a long time to warm up, but they do save on electricity compared to the extremely inefficient incandescent light bulb. So what's not to like about cfls? Mercury, for one thing. All fluorescent lights contain mercury, period. It's the dirty little secret of the CFL industry. This is mercury brought into your home, and if you break a fluorescent light in your home, you are releasing a powerful neurotoxic heavy metal in your home!

Sure, it's printed in microscopic text on the packaging of cfls, but nobody reads that. So most consumers keep on buying mercury light bulbs and bringing them right into their homes and communities, oblivious to the extremely hazardous materials found inside each light. I launched www.EcoLEDs.com because I wanted to provide an eco-friendly alternative to toxic cfls and wasteful incandescent lights. My aim is to educate consumers about the advantages of LED lights and make them so popular that even Wal-Mart starts selling them, putting my own company out of business.

BanTheBulb.org promotes energy efficient lighting, but neglects LED lights Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

CFLs are responsibly recycled, how they are going to help the poor to change their lighting, whether any heavily-taxed incandescent bulbs are going to remain available for specialist purposes, which other wasteful technologies they would like to get banned and/or which other energy-efficient technologies they would like to help get established..." Alternatives to the light bulb As consumers and nations move away from highly inefficient incandescent lights, most are considering using compact fluorescent light bulbs.

The greenwashing of toxic consumer products Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Defenders of cfls claim these lights are good for the environment because even though they contain toxic mercury, they use less energy than incandescent lights. And since coal-fired power plants release mercury into the atmosphere, the use of less energy means less overall mercury is being introduced to the environment. While this sounds sensible at first, it's still junk logic: How does harming the planet slightly less than before deserve a "green" claim of any kind?

Why light bulbs are accelerating global warming and mercury contamination Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

So what's not to like about cfls? Mercury, for one thing. All fluorescent lights contain mercury, period. It's the dirty little secret of the CFL industry. This is mercury brought into your home, and if you break a fluorescent light in your home, you are releasing a powerful neurotoxic heavy metal in your home! Birth defects, neurodegenerative diseases, developmental disorders, dementia... these have all been linked to mercury exposure. It's not even debated in the scientific literature. Even doctors readily admit that mercury is extremely toxic to the human body.

Breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb could cost you $2,000 in toxic mercury cleanup Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Like most proponents of cfls, EnergyStar fails to mention the long-term dangers to the environment and the short-term dangers to well-meaning consumers who accidentally break a compact fluorescent light bulb.

Why light bulbs are accelerating global warming and mercury contamination Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

I wanted to provide an eco-friendly alternative to toxic cfls and wasteful incandescent lights. My aim is to educate consumers about the advantages of LED lights and make them so popular that even Wal-Mart starts selling them, putting my own company out of business. I will only consider EcoLEDs.com a meaningful success when LED lights are sold at mass merchandisers and incandescent lights become a thing of the past. I hope The Home Depot stops giving away toxic fluorescent lights and starts selling LED lights instead. Isn't it interesting how the U.S.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

But things changed as the quality of CFLs' light improved, as they were adapted to fit a wider variety of fixtures, and as they got cheaper. Equally important was the fact that Philips changed the bulbs' name from Earth Light to Marathon. Market research at Philips revealed that the environment wasn't U.S. consumers' primary concern—in fact, it was their number-four or -five purchase criterion. Their number-one criterion? Longevity. And cfls last longer.

Why didn't cfls take off in the States? Among other reasons, U.S. consumers didn't care for the quality of their light output, and the bulbs didn't fit many existing lighting fixtures. But things changed as the quality of CFLs' light improved, as they were adapted to fit a wider variety of fixtures, and as they got cheaper. Equally important was the fact that Philips changed the bulbs' name from Earth Light to Marathon. Market research at Philips revealed that the environment wasn't U.S. consumers' primary concern—in fact, it was their number-four or -five purchase criterion.

Breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb could cost you $2,000 in toxic mercury cleanup Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Because Bridges knew that cfls contain hazardous materials, she called Home Depot for advice on how to clean up the broken bulb. The store directed her to a Poison Control hotline, which advised her to call the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP sent a specialist to Bridges' home who found that the mercury from one broken CFL created mercury levels in the child's bedroom that were greater than six times the state's "safe" level for mercury contamination.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

Philips cfls (which started out at essentially nil) has been growing by 12 percent or more a year. Companies inspired by this success can learn the following lessons from Philips: ¦ Price environmentally sound products comparably to conventional ones. ¦ Link environmental innovations to other benefits, like quality and durability. Opposite: Philips originally marketed its compact fluorescent bulb as the Earth Light, stressing that it was environmentally friendly, but later re-branded it the "Marathon" bulb, emphasizing savings and longevity.

Longevity. And cfls last longer. Something else came out of the research, and became a key driver behind the company's subsequent marketing efforts —it seemed that consumers were more willing to buy green products when they were bundled with other benefits.

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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.