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Seeing the light on mercury
COMPACT FLUORESCENT light bulbs last longer and use up to 75 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs. But the bulbs contain tiny amounts of mercury, which is toxic to the human nervous system. Uncertainty about disposal has discouraged consumers from adopting the bulbs, so it was welcome news last month when Home Depot announced that its 1,973 stores would begin accepting used bulbs for proper recycling. If only someone would find an easy way to collect the far greater amounts of mercury emitted by coal-burning power plants. Home Depot is not the first national retailer to offer compact fluorescent bulb recycling — Ikea and True Value stores already do — but it is the biggest. The recycling program should give an additional boost to sales of the bulbs, which reached 75 million at Home Depot in 2007. The company will take bulbs bought at any stores, not just its own. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, if every household switched just one bulb to compact fluorescent, the nation would save $600 million in energy and would reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars. The biggest single manmade source of mercury is not lightbulbs but coal-burning plants, which provide 50 percent of all US electricity. Coal-burning power plants also produce 40 percent of all greenhouse gases in the United States. A civic-minded retailer can reduce light bulbs’ role in mercury dispersal, but it will take the federal government to put tough limits on the mercury, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants of power plants. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ |
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