Originally Posted by
tuckyquilter
I'm still trying to figure out how mercury in the lightbulbs is "GREEN". They got away from that because it was a health hazard and caused issues with ground water. AND not to mention the disposal problems. Let's face it most folks are not going to make a special effort to take them to the hazardous disposal site..
Tucky, I don't use CFB's because of health reasons, but when I went shopping at Joann for an Ottlite & saw the warning about them containing mercury, I looked it up.
The LED bulbs
do not contain any mercury & you can throw them out with your regular trash. In fact, other than the issue of them containing aluminum (which is difficult to mine), they really are a good "green" option. To minimize even that impact, you can now get up to a 60W equivalent with the new Philips LED Slimline series which have less than half the amount of aluminum. 60W is not bright enough for my sewing, but it's a good option for reading or cooking. I saw them on special at Home Depot today for about $7/bulb for the 60W equivalent & $5/bulb for the 40W equivalent (about half the price of the bulb-shaped LED's).
Hope that helps for those that are seeking a mercury-free option that gives off a lot of light per watt.