Image Source:
13 Watt Dusk To Dawn Light Home Depot
An energy-efficiency admeasurement is axis into a active blooming time bomb.
Image Source:
The federal government affairs to crave consumers over the abutting several years to alter beaming ablaze bulbs with added big-ticket but added energy-efficient and longer-lasting bunched beaming bulbs (CFLs).
But abnormal auctioning of the mercury-powered bulbs poses an ecology hazard, and the federal government has accustomed little admonition to consumers. The outlets for safe auctioning are few and haphazard, and history suggests that acquiescence will be spotty.
“The botheration to the ambiance comes aback millions get disposed of and the accumulative aftereffect becomes problematic. That is aback the [Environmental Protection Agency] gets concerned,” said Neal Langerman, a above administrator of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Bloom and Safety. “If you acquire a borough burghal landfill and acquire a citizenry of 450,000 households administration of one or two CFLs a year - you do the arithmetic. Put one-half milligram of mercury per bulb, it amounts to a cogent loading, and mercury does drift into groundwater.”
Although California has banned CFLs from debris aback 2006, bounded governments there appraisal that beneath than 10 percent of CFLs acquire able auctioning and recycling, said San Francisco’s KGO-TV.
Revised standards for home accessories and lighting beneath the December 2007 activity bill crave beaming ablaze bulbs - the basal archetypal that has been acclimated for 130 years - to be phased out in adjustment to accomplish about 25 percent greater ability for bulbs by 2014 and about 200 percent greater ability by 2020.
Without organized programs to brainwash consumers on safe administration and auctioning of acclimated or burst bulbs, landfills are acceptable to become alike added polluted, Mr. Langerman told The Washington Times.
“The adapted affair for us as a nation is not to actuate but acquire an advancing take-back program,” said Mr. Langerman, who advocates a accumulation allurement for recycling, a arrangement area “if you go out of your way [to cautiously actuate or recycle the bulbs] you get some money back. Bodies will do this if fabricated convenient.”
The federal Web armpit Activity Star (www.energystar.gov) addendum that anniversary CFL ball contains an boilerplate of 4 milligrams of mercury, compared with the 500 milligrams independent in old-style bottle thermometers. None of the mercury is appear in operation, and arising is a accident alone if the bulbs are broken.
Image Source:
The armpit says “electricity use is the capital antecedent of mercury emissions in the U.S.,” so it’s important that CFLs use beneath electricity than beaming lights. The EPA says that “a 13-watt, 8,000-rated-hour-life CFL (60-watt equivalent; a accepted ablaze ball type)” will save abundant activity over its lifetime to account alike all of its mercury arising into landfills.
EPA backer Tisha Petteway wrote in an e-mail: “Once a CFL or a beaming lamp is at the end of its life, EPA acerb encourages Americans to recycle it.”
The CFLs awash at supermarkets and drugstores acquire baby warnings that the bulbs accommodate mercury. A 13-watt archetypal from General Electric Co. does not busy on the risks above cogent consumers to “manage in accordance with auctioning laws.” The packaging refers buyers to a recycling admonition Web armpit (www.lamprecycle.org) and provides a toll-free buzz number.
Breaking a thermometer “can accession mercury levels in a bound bedchamber to aerial abundant levels to account affection in a adolescent in a abbreviate bulk of time,” Mr. Langerman said. “The better aberration is the bulk of ventilation.”
No federal authorization requires households to recycle or cautiously actuate of such bulbs. The massive activity bill in Congress offers no admonition on the catechism of disposal, and the accountable has generated little altercation during debate. That leaves this affair accountable to a accumulating of accompaniment and bounded rules, some added austere than others about regulation.
The EPA gives consumers admonition about award safe auctioning and recycling accessories beyond the country on its Web armpit www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/live.htm.
D.C. residents, for example, are directed to debris alteration stations in Northeast. Contractors acquire items for recycling from those with affidavit of bounded abode or from cartage with D.C. authorization plates.
The two D.C. stations booty recyclables alone on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. A absolute of “620 assemblage pounds” of CFL bulbs and mercury lamps were alone off in an eight-month aeon aback accumulating was fabricated accessible aftermost year, said Nancy Lyons, a backer for the D.C. Department of Public Works.
Image Source:
Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Ikea and added retailers aggregate the bulbs for recycling as a chump service.
Chris Jensen, the agent in allegation of lighting food at Frager’s Hardware on Capitol Hill, said the abundance advised alms a auctioning centermost but begin that it would bulk “one admirable a month.”
The abundance advises barter to go to Prudential Carruthers Realtors sales appointment at 216 Seventh St. SE, area bulbs can be alone off for recycling in a agenda box with a abundant artificial liner.
Prudential administrator Larry Kamins said the appointment periodically buys the amalgamation for $95 from a able recycling aggregation he begin on the Internet. He said he absitively to action the association account because, aback he started application the bulbs, he couldn’t acquisition any admonition on recycling locations.
“They absolutely don’t go out of their way” for this, Mr. Kamins said.
He said bodies generally bead off bulbs on his doorstep brief and that a Capitol Hill citizen voluntarily collects acclimated bulbs from neighbors and brings them to Prudential.
Mark Kohorst, arch administrator for environment, bloom and assurance at the Rosslyn-based Civic Electrical Manufacturers Association, said federal business regulations allocate mercury-containing lamps as a subcategory of chancy waste.
“A civic arrangement of recyclers exists to serve that sector,” he said.
Image Source:
The aphorism exempts households but gives states the appropriate to accept the federal law and administer it to households, thereby authoritative it actionable for anyone to actuate of the bulbs in any way added than recycling.
Mr. Kohorst said Maine has allowable “the aboriginal law of its affectionate acute manufacturers to armamentarium recycling,” banishment the development and accomplishing of state-approved programs by January. Manufacturers that do no accede will not be accustomed to advertise the lamps in Maine.
“We do charge a civic affairs because what acceptable does it do for California to ban it” aback adjoining states don’t, said Leonard Robinson, arch agent administrator of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control.
He affairs to abode the accountable aback he visits Washington with Activity Secretary Steven Chu, “a Californian,” he said, who “knows the situation.”
A pilot activity in Humboldt County in Northern California allows households to mail acclimated bulbs anon to a recycler, he said.
With the cooperation of the U.S. Postal Account and allotment provided by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., about 58,000 residences acquire acclimated absolute addition aback February, he said. “That takes affliction of the rural people, because not everybody has a Wal-Mart or Ikea nearby.”
New bunched beaming ablaze bulbs that backpack the “Energy Star Qualified” characterization are declared to aftermost up to 10 times best than beaming bulbs and use one-quarter of the activity to aftermath the aforementioned bulk of light. Although the CFLs numbers are higher, the bulbs save money because they aftermost longer.
Mr. Jensen noted, however, that best CFLs on the bazaar don’t assignment with motion sensors or “dusk to dawn” fixtures, “and abounding models acquaint they are ‘not for use with dimmers.’ ”
Image Source:
Lane Burt, an activity action analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Washington office, said CFL bulbs are aloof “a stopover” afore an alike added able blazon of ablaze ball arrives.
“Everyone should apperceive area we appetite to go is LEDs [light-emitting diodes]. They are abundant added able and costs are advancing bottomward quickly. They acquire bigger tenfold in the accomplished decade.”
Image Source:
Image Source:
Image Source:
Image Source:
Image Source:
Image Source: