maiforpeace wrote:mistermack wrote:I don't see where they get their prices for bulbs in that article.
Here in the UK, we have pound shops and 99p shops, where everything is the same price.
They have been stocking fluorescent energy-saving bulbs for a couple of years now.
11w is the equivalent of a traditional 60 watt, and 18w give the same light as an old 100w.
For a pound each. And they last four or five times longer. How come they are so expensive in California?
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We have the same stores here too...Dollar Stores, and they sell those cheap incandescent lightbulbs too. I even saw them at Kmart the other day, three for $1.29. The price they quoted in the article is probably suggested retail, for a name brand light bulb, like General Electric.
Why do you rail about what we do in California, CES? You don't live here. This stuff gets passed for a reason...because the citizens of California support it Is your own state government that weak that you fear California might set a precedent you can't vote out?
The only thing I railed against was the bullshit double-talk. See the OP.
maiforpeace wrote:
As for the strict pollution laws...it's easy enough to dispose of those bulbs here - either at the recycling center, or to any local hardware store, or box hardware store. Some hardware stores even give you a a discount to buy new bulbs if you recycle your old ones. What's the big deal? We should be doing the same thing with disposable batteries as well.
But, make sure if one breaks on your floor you send the kids to grannie's house for the night, and bring in a professional clean-up crew to deal with the mercury. Follow the three page instructions to avoid further contamination, and throw away any clothing and shoes that may have come in contact with the broken bulb or residue from inside the bulb....
Plus, fuck the US workers - GE has been behind all the "must use CFL" legislation in the US:
GE is promoting new, energy-saving bulbs known as compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made in China. These bulbs last longer and use less energy than the typical incandescent bulbs found in most U.S. homes—but they can cost up to 10 times as much.
If GE has its way, it will no longer manufacture light bulbs in the United States. Since 1980, employment in GE lighting plants in this country has dropped by 68 percent. If everyone switched to the Chinese-made CFL bulbs, all U.S. plants would close.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/12/ge-wo ... hina-bulb/
GE Closes Last Incandescent Light Bulb Plant, Jobs Sent to China
http://www.heartland.org/full/28516/GE_ ... China.html
And, by buying the CFL's you support the killing of workers in China:
CFLs contain mercury, like other fluorescents, in order to function. Mercury is a well-known toxin, and mercury vapor can cause serious damage to the central nervous system. Though the amount of mercury in a CFL is small, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends opening a window and leaving the room for at least 15 minutes before beginning clean-up of a broken bulb.
Yet workers at the Topstar plant do not get "a detailed account of work dangers" as their contracts stipulate, receive little safety training, and often do not know basic facts about factory safety. The majority of workers interviewed told researchers they had no idea that the company was using mercury, or how to protect themselves. Told the meaning of the character for mercury, or gong, they said there were many plastic barrels on which "discarded objects containing gong" was written in red. The barrels were filled with CFLs and often were open or not properly sealed.
Experienced workers end up with swollen fingers from repeatedly pricking themselves with electronic components they are plugging in. Workers reported that when they finish their shifts, they ache all over and their legs have gone numb. One veteran worker said, "Ah, after more than a year [here], I am more or less numb all over and have become a machine!" Other workers interviewed made similar comments.
http://www.policymattersohio.org/GoodBulbsBadJobs.htm
And,
http://www.science20.com/make_love_not_ ... ls_concern
Thousands of Chinese factory workers who manufacture 'environmentally friendly' mercury compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for export to first world countries have been poisoned and hospitalized because of mercury exposure over the last decade
We've had them in our house for ages, between 40 and 100 watt equivalent brightness.
I bought regular incandescent bulbs (wrere out of dimmable energy savers), 2 x 60w for about 60p in Sainsburys the other week, and on the same day bought a load of different wattage energy savers from Poundstretcher, £1.29 for each pack of 3.
