The $2,000 broken light bulb

     Here's one to make you think a bit before going "green".  From the March 17, 2007 online edition of the Bangor (Maine) Daily News ("Broken light bulb sparks debate"):

Brandy Bridges was among the untold thousands of Mainers who liked the idea of saving both money and the environment. She installed more than two dozen compact fluorescent bulbs in her Prospect home.

But Bridges’ trust in the new technology literally shattered this week when a minor incident with a loose bulb turned into a major headache. A bulb she was trying to rethread tumbled from her hands and broke on the carpeted floor of her daughter’s bedroom.

Remembering lessons from shop class about fluorescent bulbs, Bridges began calling around for advice on the proper cleanup procedure.

"I was nervous. Something about this gave me a bad feeling," Bridges said in an interview.

She called The Home Depot, where she bought the bulb, and was referred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which eventually referred her to the DEP’s environmental response team. A specialist who responded found mercury readings more than six times the state’s acceptable level at the spot of the broken bulb.

Readings a few feet from the spot where the bulb broke were within safe levels.

The specialist referred Bridges to an environmental cleanup company. The estimated cost, according to Bridges, was about $2,000.

"Save 40 cents a month on your electric bill, but it will cost you two grand to clean up?" Bridges said.

     The article from the Bangor Daily News goes on to say that the State of Maine is adopting procedures to guide homeowners in cleaning up the mercury mess themselves without having to call on professional help.  However, reader "Ray" asks a disturbing question in a comment to the article at the URL link above:  "What if you are in the process of selling your home and have residual mercury in the carpet  from a broken energy saving bulb.. Do you have to disclose that problem to potential buyers?"

     Illustrating, once again, that there is no such thing as a lack of trade-offs in going "green".  You can save on your light bill and increase your risk of mercury exposure from a broken light bulb; you can accept the government's assurance that the risk is minimal and still face increased legal risk if you act on the government's assurance and don't disclose the mercury in your home sale documents; or you can disclose the supposedly minor problem in your home-sale documents and increase the risk that the sale will fall through (unless you'd like to give a $2,000 credit for hazmat cleanup). 

     Please consult your lawyer and toxicologist before changing that bulb!

Comments

[Nurbaitin]

The product I paeuhcsrd was listed as a new product and it was new, but the advertisement did not indicate that the experation date on the product was Dec. 2006. The product is almost three years beyond the expiration date.In fairness to the vendor, After I contacted the vendor, they refunded me $30. of the approximately $42. I paid. I hope that when I use the product, it will work. iF NOT MY LOSS IS MINIMAL.

[Rahmad]

I was looking for grneeic ink cartridges or wholesale toner and came across your blog. Wow the one place you linked to is very cheap, the link to the other cheap ink place was not working so you may want to look at that. Thanks so much I saveed about 68% of what I was paying before and it works great. TB

[Darji]

I was looking for a cheap pnietrr ink cartridge and found your site. To my surprise the ink cartridges I found by following the link from your site was not only discount ink, but it was within a dollar or two of what refill ink should have cost. And if I can buy pnietrr ink cartridges cheap enough and compatible cartridges that really do work without problems, who the heck ever needs to mess with ink refills again. Thank you so much. I have a brother pnietrr, and it works great but the brother pnietrr ink cartridges for this model last maybe a hundred pages normal print and brother pnietrr ink lasts about 150 pages on fresh pnietrr ink cartridges if I print in draft mode. I have seen some pretty cheap canon ink cartridges now and then, but I never found a good deal on brother pnietrr cartridges until I found your site. The compatible cartridges were an exact match to the brother cartridges. As you probably already know, brother pnietrrs don’t work well with most discount pnietrr ink cartridges and remanufactured ink cartridges often get rejected by the pnietrr. The pnietrr flashes the famous “Machine Error 41 unplug pnietrr and call Brother” or one of the other error codes. On my Brother pnietrr it has a smart chip that detects when anything but a real brother cartridge is used. Only the generic ink cartridges I purchased from your link have ever worked 100%. Thanks again, I will never be held hostage by brother again! Robert

[Dave]

Mercury is considered dangerous because it vaporizes.The small quantity of mercury found in a Fluorescent Light fixture be pretty well vaporized within a few hours.

[Rich]

Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so...I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 - and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.

[Rich]

Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so...I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 - and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.

[Rich]

Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so...I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 - and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.

[Rich]

Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so...I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 - and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.