What are you doing against Global Warming

I switched out all my old, conventional light bulbs with the more expensive but more green fluorescence thingies. Although the package says they contain mercury. I think I was counter-productive.

Recycling is actually a very expensive and inefficient process, I hear. I try to do that when I can, but our town doesn't really offer the option, sadly. =/

EDIT: I don't want to upset Gech or anything with my half-assed green actions. Please don't hate me, Gech!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

The amount of mercury in a light bulb is trace amounts at best.

If you do really worry about it that much, though, the EPA does mandate safe disposal methods for large users of fluorescent bulbs. I'm sure you could find some company nearby that will take in as part of a recycling program.

Good to know. I didn't see the "Contains Mercury" bit until recently. If there's a warning, that means I should probably get rid of it properly. =/

Quote:

And, of course, recycling can be expensive and inefficient, but it really depends on the kind of material you're dealing with. Recycling mixed metals, such as steel, is still worthwhile, though it gets to be a hassle since you're mixing all these different kinds of steel, so it can only be sold as a very low grade type of steel. Paper's the same way where it can only be used so many times before it just degrades into junk and has to be scrapped. Aluminum, on the other hand, can easily be purified back to elementally pure and be reused infinitely (and for much less energy consumption than starting from scratch getting aluminum out of bauxite).

Most of us on a daily basis don't really use this bad boys, though. I mean, yea, you're right - in these arenas, recycling is prime.

But for us lowly citizens who use plastic bottles and canned goods, how efficient is the process?

There's nowhere I can't reach.