12.27.2008

CFL Bulbs: Much Ado About Nothing

We had our first CFL bulb burn out. While it lasted for 3 years, I am not impressed with these things. I'm not falling for this game anymore. I'll give them away or sell the rest. Here's why I am doing so:

1) We replaced all but 2 lights in our house with these bulbs and we did not see our electric bill reduce in any way shape or form.

2) They take several minutes to fully turn themselves on.

3) The lighting is not that good. Fluorescent lighting is something I'm sensitive to to begin with. And that yellowish tint. Ugh.

4) How did we know it burned out? We smelled a strong burning stench and at first thought something was on fire. When Mr. N went to unscrew it, he about burned his hand. The base of the bulb was VERY HOT. 15 minutes later and it is still quite warm. It also had a yellowing mark around the base as though it had overheated.

Think we've ever had that experience with a good 'ole Thomas Edison bulb?

Nope.

Now that it's burned out, what do we do with it? I haven't a clue. I'm certainly not throwing it away. I want to recycle it. However, upon doing some digging, I discovered that only approximately 25% of cities are equipped to deal with recycling these bulbs. Insane considering this massive movement to get them in every home. Hopefully our local waste removal company is equipped to do just that.

We've replaced the bulb with the good old fashioned incadescent bulb. We will be stocking up on those and buying them on the black market once they are phased out.

These things are nothing but a scam, something I intuitively knew from the get-go, but I decided to try them out anyways. We bought 30 of them.

Break one and you expose yourself to toxic mercury vapors.

Fluorescent bulbs have been associated with health issues in sensitive individuals.

It was one thing when these were presented as an option. However, Uncle Sam wants to phase out the incadescent bulb, where our only choice will be the CFL.

Uncle Sam telling us what kind of light bulb to use goes against the principles of freedom in so many ways, I am astounded so many applaud this agenda. For it is a joke to me that Al Gore and his posse tout responsible carbon footprints while living lavish lives that knock their carbon numbers off the charts. Once I saw Walmart pushing these bulbs, I knew something dark was behind this movement.

The claim about saving the environment is a joke. Want to save the environment? How about we get these buildings in cities and towns all across America to turn out their damn lights when not in use. It's grossly wasteful to have this 24/7 lighting. REQUIRE the Big 3 Automakers to produce high efficiency, reliable vehicles like their European counterparts (maybe then we american's will start buying them again). Grow hemp and use that to power our vehicles and our lives. Stop the worldwide destructive, deplorably irresponsible and reprehensible deforestation practice. Yank the rug out from under Montsanto and their deplorable, big brother controlling and toxic farming "practices". Stop Big Business from polluting our waterways. Yeah that's right: S T O P. End the use of toxic chemical sprays on our crops. No reason not to when viable, organic, environmentally friendly products ALREADY EXIST.

And yet, Joe and Jane America. Use CFC bulbs. Save the environment. Save the planet.

Wake up folks.

This is not about saving the environment or the planet.

It is about placing further restrictions on our lives, our personal choices and about making a lot of money taking advantage of our naivete'.

Nothing more, nothing less.

*this message is the opinion of yours truly, nina and nina only and does not reflect the opinion of blogger, its affiliates and the typical american. nina receives no money from republicans or big oil or right-wing special interest groups, contrary to what some may think when reading some of her posts. no animals were harmed in the creating of this post. however the feelings of certain elitist pond scum were disturbed as hidden truths were exposed.

4 comments:

Pugs in Space said...

They want them in every home because they have a hypnotic effect. Keeps the sheeples sleepy and dumbed down.

Pugs in Space said...

P.S. I LOVE your disclaimer at the end. Snarf snarf!

Devin said...

Great idea for a post Nina-I find it odd how many times my thoughts or actions on the net 'synch' with other people on the net-I just bought some of those a day ago now I am thinking about going back to the old incandescent ones-I think a lot of 'save the enviorment' stuff out there is hogwash. A lot of these so called green products cost more money and give people a feeling they are helping the enviorment or something like this when really the effect is probably very tiny if it exists at all. best to you as always!

Nina said...

yeah pugs, they do have a hypnotic effect, don't they? that's a good term. it kind of reminds me of that movie--a bugs life--or maybe it's ants--anyway one of them cute little insect movies where the mosquito sees the light on the bug zapper. his friend screams to him "DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT" and the little mosquito says "i can't hellllllp it. it's sooooo pretty." then ZAP. lol it's actually a really funny scene.

devin-i also feel some of these "green" products have little if any REAL positive effect on the environment. and even thos that do, they're often owned by big corporations who have deplorable environmental practices. it's like "hey buy this energy efficient bulb/earth friendly cleaning product. now if you'll excuse me, i am going to dump a bunch of polluting sludge into the nearby creek that runs out back of our headquarters." 'tis why i don't follow the al gore movement anymore. his carbon footprint is off the charts. meanwhile he touts for you and i to get busy and change our habits. plus there is still no consensus on the cause(s) of planetary change. i know this: it ain't just about you and me.