Ecology & Common Sense

There is a lot of hype these days over CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs. Environmentalists, the government and manufacturers of these bulbs are all agreed that we should replace our inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFLs.

There are many Americans, however, who point out that the CFL bulb contains mercury and gasses which are dangerous for the environment and people. One story has been circulating of a mother who broke a CFL bulb in her daughter's bedroom and called the Maine DEP to ask what she should do. The DEP suggested she call the HAZMAT hotline, which said the cleanup would come to around $2,000.

Although the above story is apparently true (I checked Snopes.com), the Maine DEP later admitted that it had over reacted and the HAZMAT people had simply read the guidelines for mercury contamination clean-up. The same precautions are necessary with a CFL bulb as with the long tube-type fluorescent lights. Nearly every community accepts these for recycling. If any fluorescent light breaks in the home, you should NOT use a vacuum cleaner to clean up. Open a window to air out the room. Put on rubber gloves and pick up the pieces manually; then use pieces of duct tape or masking tape to clean up whatever dust particles and miniature pieces of glass you can find. With a damp cloth, wipe up the residue and place all in a plastic bag. Put the bag in the recycling bin and hope that the guys who take it from there are as meticulous as you.

It is claimed that if every household in the USA would replace just one old fashioned bulb with a CFL lamp, we could save the equivalent emissions of a million automobiles. I figure that if there are 225 million people in America, there could be perhaps 100 million households and twice that number of cars - give or take a few million. If Al Gore and company are correct, then 100 old fashioned light bulbs produce the equivalent emissions of one automobile.

Here is where common sense should be used. When I drive our big Roadmaster station wagon with its powerful Corvette LT1 engine, I doubt that I pollute 10,000 watts worth of emissions. The engine turns a mere 2000-2500 rpms at 60mph and I still get about 20mpg. A small Honda or Toyota may get better mileage, but probably gives off a similar amount of emissions at 5,000 rpms.

I can get a 4x8 sheet of plywood inside my Roadmaster wagon and close the hatch! If our Roadmaster and one of these little cars collide, which car would you rather be in?

I only paid $3,500 for our 1994 Roadmaster but would have to pay much more for a used small car in similar condition. These are in greater demand with gas at $3 per gallon. When my Roadmaster is ready for the junk yard, I will get $500 scrap price, but a rusty little Toyota is hardly worth tossing in the crusher.

Common sense would be helpful in saving electric. As a rule, we probably use no more than 300 watts of light for a few hours each day. Only an Al gore could afford to have 100 light bulbs burning 24 hours a day. According to our electric bill, we use about 350 kilowatt hours or 350,000 watts of energy per month. A 100-watt light bulb uses only a tenth of a kilowatt, so I use the equivalent of 3.5 million 100-watt bulbs burning 24 hours a day! My common sense tells me that there must be many other places where I could save energy. The air conditioner uses 3.5 kw, so we keep our thermostat set at 78 degrees in summer. If everyone did the same, we could save the equivalent emissions of 20,000,000 cars. Weather permitting, we hang our clothes on a line outside to dry. If everyone followed suit, that would save another 20 million car emissions. I doubt if Al Gore's wife does that.

Here is another thought. The cost of energy, whether from fossil fuel, atomic power, hydroelectric or solar power, is at least half taxation. Most of the other cost is for labor and transport. We know from experience what happens when we use less energy. The prices increase accordingly.

What can we learn from all this?

If you want to get rich, become a politician and write books about ecology. If you would like to save money and our planet; use your common sense! It is our most valuable resource and we don't need to conserve it.