Go green!

[loretak]

My electricity is now from 100% wind energy!   ETA: go here to find out what alternative energy is available in your area.

And I also went out and got some of those energy efficient bulbs that are supposed to last for like 10 years or so.

And I've decided to regularly annoy my apartment complex about getting some recycling dumpsters, because it's

Comments

[lessthannate]

be careful with those light bulbs...they contain enough mercury in each one to warrant the EPA to require you to have a hazmat team clean your apartment due to the higher than legal amount should you break one.

Also, those bulbs are made only in china....and china doesn't care how much coal they burn to make electricity for to power the factory. Plus, they don't care so much about emissions from their plants.

China pretty much carbon offsets the rest of the world at this point. whatever we do good....they're making up for it.

[loretak]

I had heard that they had mercury in the lightbulbs, but it was my understanding you'd pretty much have to break an entire case of them at once to have any health risk from them.

That's crappy regarding the coal for the factories, but I'm guessing the 'normal' light bulb factories here aren't much better (though I don't know for sure). And at least I won't have to buy as many.

Did China pass us as #1 contributors? I thought we were still the worst culprit.

[bigweale]

Why must you always pour acid rain on the parade? Bastard :-P

Here is a decent entry on the environmental hazards of the light bulb. I think it's a temporary measure, and in another 10-20 years, we'll all be using LED-based lights (or they'll fix the mercury issue).

Nate, I'd like to see where you're getting your China statistic. The articles I've read talk about manufacturing outsourcing to China as being one of the root causes of the increase. Less manufacturing in the US = less emissions from the US. And, China will get better, either voluntarily or through political and economic coercion.