Late adopters will often say they haven’t switched to energy-efficient CFL bulbs because of the mercury content. And while this mercury issue really shouldn’t hold people back from switching, forward-thinking environmental organizations are working hard to reduce the mercury in CFL bulbs. Earlier this year, eco-nonprofit Environmental Working Group even put out a guide — Lighten Up in ‘09: Shopper’s Guide to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs — that encourages people to opt for low-mercury CFL bulbs.
Lighten Up lists 7 CFL bulbs on the market that have the lowest mercury content so people can easily pick them out. Beyond that, EWG calls for higher and more transparent Energy Star standards for CFL bulbs. Why? If companies were required to list the mercury content of bulbs on the package and given easily-identifiable longetivity ratings, people would easily be able to figure out which bulbs are the safest and longest-lasting — pushing companies to make safer and longer-lasting bulbs.
Of course, another complaint that some people have about CFL bulbs is that they’re too bright or too dim — or have garish or weirdly-tinted hues. This is because CFL bulbs vary widely in terms of quality — a factor that EWG doesn’t take into account in its report. That begs the question: Do the low-mercury CFL bulbs that EWG recommend work as well as some of the other bulbs that may be of higher quality?
Well, I wrote a post rounding up the best indoor CFL blubs for Low Impact Living a little while back. And my conclusion is that your best bets for getting the best of both worlds (a CFL bulb with a pleasant light that’s also as eco as possible) appear to be MaxLite MicroMax or MaxLite SpiraMax, bulbs well-liked by many light reviewers and by EWG alike.
CFL bulb newbies can download EWG’s handy one-sheet PDF guide to CFLs. Make the switch now, because a single bulb could save you $80 or more over its lifetime, according to EWG. Find out just how much you could save using this CFL bulb savings calculator.
While reducing mercury in bulbs is a great idea, the fact that CFL bulbs contain mercury shouldn’t make you avoid these energy-savers altogether. After all, more mercury’s put into the environment by coal-burning plants creating the extra energy needed for “regular bulbs” than are contained in CFL bulbs. Just take general safety precautions (don’t use CFLs in lamps that often get knocked over by kids, for example) and clean up broken CFL bulbs properly.
And remember to recycle those CFL bulbs properly at the end of their use!
Photo by Adam
I’m presently living in a developing country and I am reluctant about buying any CFL bulbs because the market is filled with substandard everything. Now that I see the argument about power generation spewing mercury into the environment, I might have to rethink things yet again.
Comment by Martin — February 24, 2009 @ 7:56 am
No, I’m not the other commentator (his name is Martin, too), but just wanted to make a comment. Recently, probably in the last year or so, there have been CFL bulbs that are made with better manufacturing and better components, and have a lot less mercury in them than those of a few years ago. These ones:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_hi?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tools&field-brandtextbin=Clear-Lite
are reasonably priced and say that they: “Clear-Lite Natural Light ECO CFLs are designed to be Earth Friendlier and use Premium Components such as Lead Free Glass, Lead Free PC Board, Lead Free ECO Base and Amalgam” and it seems they are much better for the environment. And I’ve seen other brands with better environment claims, too
Comment by Martin Podjski — October 16, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
It really is great to see CFLs coming on the market with less mercury. I do wish Popular Science or another major publication that has the time / money to do serious side by side comparisons of CFL bulbs could put together an article that factors in both mercury levels and effectiveness / prettiness of the light so it’d be easier for green thinking consumers to make smart choices….
Comment by Siel — October 19, 2009 @ 5:46 pm