There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick-click links helpful:
Last week was an interesting week. I read a lot about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, green (and pink) washing and how domestic violence is being decriminalized in Topeka, Kansas. As I read, one thing became quite evident ... there are a lot of people who blindly accept what they are told without having the facts necessary to make informed decisions. The participants of our challenges, however, can never be accused of blind acceptance. Case in point ... last week's challenge. CFLs and LEDs, on the surface, seem to be wonderful energy-saving options. But as we'll find out, some folks dug a little deeper and have serious reservations about their use. And that is the beauty of these challenges ... we have the opportunity to investigate an idea and share information.
The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing a post about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments. Let's see what they had to say this week:
EcoGrrl has been using CFLs for a long time. She plans to transition to LEDs as her bulbs burn out but ... that may take awhile ... her bulbs are lasting for at least 8 years. Wow! She shares that CFLs now come in all sizes and colors, including the "warm" colors that most people missed from incandescent bulbs. EcoGrrl also reminds us that CFLs can be recycled at both Home Depot and Lowes. Nice!
When we first ran this challenge in 2009, Argentum Vulgaris wasn't making the switch ... for some valid reasons. But recently, he started giving them a second thought (read about that HERE). Then he started checking them out ... which lead to this POST which discusses government bans on incandescent bulbs, mercury, corporate manipulation, UV radiation and the lack of appropriate CFL recycling. Conclusion: He's still not making the switch. Be sure to check out his post ... he references other sites which discuss the issue.
Amy (aka NonMom) says that she replaces incandescent bulbs only when they burn out because she doesn't want to waste a working bulb. That's a great point, Amy!
I'd like to welcome Kris back to "the fold". Nice to "see" you again, Kris! She feels the same as Amy and talks about it HERE. She wonders if there is a good, environmental reason to replace a working bulb. So folks ... what do you think?
Joanne shared her thoughts about this challenge on twitter: 1) We made the switch to CFL bulbs long ago but also use LED where possible. Initial investment for LED is high but its our preference.
The Accessory Lady has been using CFLs in her home for the past 7 years and says that her favorite feature is that they last forever. She's wondering how the people who use LEDs like them. Check out Harold's post (below), AL ... he's currently using LEDs. AL also asked about recycling CFLs ... that's a great question AL. As EcoGrrl shared, both Home Depot and Lowes have bins set up for recycling. IKEA, ACE Hardware and True Value Hardware may also recycle them. One can also check Earth 911 or Earth 911 International for recycling options.
Cinella has switched out most of her bulbs for CFLs but has a unique problem in making them last. She's done some investigation and found the reason. The answer surprised me. Curious? Check out her article HERE.
We have a new participant this week. Welcome to Katie!! Katie is a kindred spirit ... she hosts a series called Green Motivation Monday ... a weekly, green challenge. WhooHoo! So if you want to really push yourself each week, participate both here and at Katie's place. Katie commented on our previous challenge about Halloween saying that she tries to avoid plastic. In fact, she's going to avoid it for Christmas as well ... she's gathering pine cones, etc. to make her own wreath. Nice!
Harold replaces incandescent bulbs as they burn out but he's concerned about the mercury in CFLs. He offers his opinions in this POST, including his thoughts on the LED bulbs which he's currently using. Thanks, Harold!
Alicia has been using CFLs for awhile. She's been doing some research on LEDs and plans to make the switch when they have improved the brightness of these bulbs. By the way ... have you heard Alicia's news? Click HERE to read all about it. And may I say, Alicia ... CONGRATULATIONS! That is quite an accomplishment!! Well done, my friend!!
Sarah uses CFLs exclusively in her room but she didn't know that the bulbs can be recycled. Yes indeedy, Sarah!! By the way ... nice to see you again ... we've missed you! For those who haven't checked out Sarah's blog ... head on over ... it's filled with interesting information including a recent post entitled "Lazy Green" where she maintains that the easiest way to live green is to simply be lazy (it's a wonderful post). Thanks, Sarah!
In this POST you'll find out why Mrs. Green thinks that CFLs should be banned. Here's a hint: they contain a component with is a contaminant for life. Read that statement again ... a contaminant for LIFE. Wow! She discusses her bulb of choice and shares that there is one bulb which her husband can actually make. Wow!
Ann stopped in and joined our challenge. In her Blog Action Day 2011 post (HERE) she includes a link to CTWW.
In this POST, Amity meets two challenges ... the Halloween activity and our light bulb challenge. She offers a ton of great ideas for a green Halloween and one of her ideas uses LED bulbs. Fabulous, Amity!
Many folks are concerned with the mercury in CFLs and the possibility of the bulb breaking. But do you know what to do in that event ... and is it really the catastrophe that we fear? Stephanie (aka Good Girl Gone Green) did some research and has the answer for us (read it HERE). Fabulous, Stephanie!!
Rachel has been using energy-efficient light bulbs for a long time and has only had one bulb burn out in the past 10 years. Wow! She's been planning to replace the halogen bulb in her kitchen with LEDs and, just as though her kitchen knew about our challenge, the bulb blew out this week so Rachel's husband ordered four LEDs online. Once they arrive let us know how you like them Rachel.
Brenna doesn't have any incandescent bulbs in her house and hopes to switch her CFLs to LEDs. All of her Christmas lights are LEDs and she shares that LEDs, in general, have improved a lot over the years.
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who share our challenges on twitter using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I highly recommend following them ... they have a lot of great things to say. Let's meet them:
My final thoughts: There are so many considerations in choosing the right light bulb. CFLs save more energy than incandescent bulbs but they do contain a small amount of mercury. LEDs don't contain mercury but may contain lead and/or arsenic (read about that HERE) and they tend to be cost prohibitive. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) don't contain contaminants but they are extremely expensive to manufacture, their life span is relatively short, they are sensitive due to the organic membrane and can be broken easily, and the light they emit isn't yet efficient. So what's the right answer? In my opinion, living green is often a matter of balance and doing the best we can. In order to do that, we must become educated consumers ... we must learn everything we can about the issue and then make the best choice possible. For me that means using CFLs instead of incandescent bulbs with the goal of replacing those with LEDs as they become more affordable. It's not perfect but it's a start.
Great job, everyone! If you wrote an article, I have Stumbled, Tweeted and Facebooked it. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share feature at the bottom of this post.
This Week's Challenge:
This week's challenge comes from Jennifer. I think it's going to be a fun challenge! Here you go:
This week, find one way to lower the environmental impact of your pet.
OR ...
If you don't have a pet, suggest ways that we can protect wild animals.
If you don't have a pet, suggest ways that we can protect wild animals.
I can't wait to read your ideas on this one!!
Ready for our mantra? All together now ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
Hey there - Gotta shout a bit louder about those who are promoting the hysteria around mercury in CFLs:
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a mass hysteria about CFLs and mercury, yet there is more mercury in a tunafish sandwich than in a CFL bulb, yet no one's screaming to ban tunafish. There are only gentle reminders out there about how most fish are filled with mercury, yet we encourage a diet with fish. No one says anything about wearing a watch or hearing aid with batteries that contain mercury, and no one seems to be running to the dentist to have their mercury fillings removed. Yet the CFL is getting a beatdown.
There are a lot of myths about CFLs - a good overview is at http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/70/three-cfl-myths-busted.html
Please people, get the facts, take things in perspective. They're not perfect, but they're not 'the devil' as one blogger put it and they're not going to kill us.
If you break a light bulb, sweep it up and put it in a ziplock bag. It can then go into the garbage.
OK, pet stuff - one big thing I did this year is stop buying my dog treats from the store. Even the 'natural' treats usually come in non-recyclable packaging, and they're just not good for pets. Dogs shouldn't eat grains, corn, or of course any byproducts. Vegetables are great for dogs and mine goes nuts over carrots and - get this - zucchini. Never had a problem with too many zucchini! It's better for them, it's cheaper, and no packaging that will sit in a landfill for 500 years :)
Up and running on:
ReplyDeletehttp://ecocrap.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/change-the-world-wednesday-19th-oct/
and there's a follow up on CFLs.
Have a good week everybody.
AV
We have three cats and they love toys. I found that they love the wool dryer balls I make so I made some smaller ones for them to play with. They love these things and they can't seem to tear them up like most of the other toys I have bought for them in the past. Also this time of year I go to Goodwill and buy wool sweaters and make them warm bedding.Even though they are inside cats they like to curl up on these wool sweaters and sleep for hours. So in the past few years we have eliminated having to buy extra toys and bedding by using recycled material.
ReplyDeleteWe have only had our dog for two weeks so I'm sure there are things I will change along the way. For now we are using the Greenbone Doobag. The dispenser and the bags are biodegradable. I didn't want to change her food too soon, but am planning to switch her to an organic variety that will be better for her health and the environment :)
ReplyDeleteYay! Thank you for picking my challenge. I've known for a while that having a cat is one of the higher impact choices of my life just because of her carnivorous diet. I haven't found any truly local natural pet foods, but I buy organic wet food and try to ensure that all of her food is at least made in the US. This week, I think I'll finally try to talk to some of the meat sellers at my farmers' market to see if I can make her diet more local. I do hate dealing with, looking at, or smelling raw meat -- it's been a huge barrier for me in looking into more sustainable options for kitty!
ReplyDeleteI use pine/corn litter, which unlike clay is renewable and biodegradable, and fold my own kitty litter bags out of old newspapers. The cat's also spayed and indoor only, so she's not contributing to native bird population losses or cat overpopulation. But some of her toys are still plastic, and she has an auto feeder that runs on battery power that I cringe at giving up.
Thanks for all the thoughts on different lightbulbs. We currently use CFLs and a few LEDs. I don't particularly like CFLs as we have had many of them burn out after only a few months of use and they are supposed to last for years.
ReplyDeleteIf what I read online is true (and if it's online it must be true, right?), CFL bulbs take up to 75% less energy to use than incandescents and over time, more mercury is released into the atmosphere through energy production to run incandescent bulbs than CFL bulbs. So wouldn't that make CFL the better choice in the long run and even worth making the switch to save energy and money?
And like a previous comment noted, CFL bulbs barely contain any mercury at all. That said, I am leaning towards LED lights and hope the cost keeps coming down so my household can afford to switch over.
Just a final thought on bulbs: In a few weeks many of us will be pulling out the Christmas lights. If they don't work anymore, there are ways to recycle them instead of dumping them. For those who are wanting to switch to LED Christmas lights, there are companies who will take your old lights and give you a discount on new LED ones.
I'll have to help my doggie be more green this week. I will check back in to read everyone else's ideas, I need help with this one! I'll have to research about changing his food.
We have two 'toddler' aged cats and I guess the fact that they are both neutered is a way of lessening their impact by not having litters of babies that will need homes or may suffer which would break my heart.
ReplyDeleteThis one was hard! Wow.
Hmm, don't have a pet? Not sure how to participate this week! LOL but I know that for any of you dog lovers, they now have bags that disinegrate faster than plastic when you are picking up doggie poop! One of my fav shops, Annie's Blue Ribbon Store sells them and although she is based in bklyn, she ships!
ReplyDeleteYesterday's News cat litter. A better choice for your feline family member.
ReplyDeleteOhhh great challenge. I haven't really thought about how we can go green with our puppy. But with our older puppy we would give her our scraps, boiled like the vet said. She loved it.
ReplyDeleteGotta talk to our vet about our new pup.
CJR @ TMB
I never really thought about pets! I don't have any, so that's probably why. Some of my friends at work have cats, so I'll have a chat with them and see what I can recommend.
ReplyDeleteI have read about pet waste solutions where you put the dog poop in a container that you dig into the ground... but isn't it a problem for dog waste to end up in our groundwater and runoff?
ReplyDeleteAlicia--I JUST got finished making a bunch of dryer balls, and I have a wool sweater out because I'm making some wool diaper covers. And my cat is curled up on it. she loves it! That's a great idea about making a cat bed out of some wool!
Although... my cat is an evil b*tch and I was ready to bring her to the humane society today. Hmph. Mean but true.
My post is up! For the most part we are pretty environmentally friendly with our dog, that is excecpt in one main area. I need to change that.
ReplyDeletehttp://outwardlypleasant.blogspot.com/2011/10/ctww-environmental-impact-of-pets.html
We no longer have any pets, although we are thinking about getting backyard chickens next spring. I am still learning, but hope to utilize all the fabulous resources in my area I hope to make them as environmentally friendly as possible.
ReplyDeleteProtecting wild animals is another story, and so timely with the tragedy in Ohio. It is cheating, but I wrote a post a while back and still don't know the answers to all the questions I have: http://www.almostallthetruth.com/2010/09/animals-what-are-our-responsibilities-toward-them/
I'll look forward to seeing others' views.
Hey, it's me - Mrs 'CFLs are the work of the devil' blogger!
ReplyDeleteI still stand by my comment (thanks Ecogrrl for sharing your thoughts and opening up some interesting dialogue on my blog; I appreciate it)and adopt a 'live and let live' attitude towards people, so whatever works for folks is great by me.
My take is that it's the cumulative sum of mercury that is a problem. Ok, so a bulb contains less mercury than an amalgam filling, but how many bulbs do we have in our homes? Not just one unless we live very low impact.
Then, in 10 years time when the bulbs expire most of them might be dumped in landfill (because let's face it, not all folk recycle well) where, well, who knows what happens after that?
Just as we celebrate making small positive changes because they add up to make significant differences, 'small' and seemingly insignificant 'negative' choices can add up to devastating impact too...
Anyway, moving on to happier subjects; I present Sunrise the low carbon pawprint bunny with a video which I hope will make bunny lovers smile: http://littlegreenblog.com/blog/family-news-blog/how-to-lower-the-environmental-impact-of-your-pet/
Mad as a Hatter: further information on the CFL debate.
ReplyDeletehttp://ecocrap.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/mad-as-a-hatter/
It has been immensely informative reading the various comments on this issue.
AV
Thought I'd leave a little more information on the CFL issue ... another element to consider: The greatest source of mercury in our environment comes from burning coal which is the most common fuel used in the United States to generate electricity. A CFL uses 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb and lasts at least 6 times longer so the mercury emissions that result from the coal-fired electricity used to power it are considerably lower.
ReplyDeleteI didn't touch on the industrial aspect, although it and naturally occurring mercury are and have been with us for a long time. I did, however, touch on the balance of cold light vs hot light almost negating that benefit in that we use more power for heating. People don't realise how much the IL contributes to heating the house.
ReplyDeleteAV
This challenge made me do some research and the idea I'm going to try is using wood pellets for kitty litter. I'm pretty sure I can get them at my favorite feed store and the prospect of saving money while being environmentally more responsible is hard to pass up!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I posted about this challenge at the end of blogging about what to do with end-of-season tomatoes: Keeping My Tomatoes Regular With Oatmeal.
I have two frogs and they eat live crickets. I've been thinking a lot lately about how wasteful it is buying a tiny plastic container of crickets every week for them. I'm working on my blog post now (thanks for the inspiration) for what I am doing to try and make the frogs a little greener. I am making a "cricket house" from an old fish tank. That way I can buy one large bag of crickets and keep them alive for several weeks. This means I won't have to use multiple containers and I won't have to drive to the pet store every week.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we buy for our cat is food, but we were buying it in pouches. These only contain one meal per pouch and can't be recycled - very poor packaging. Bracing myself to throw away lots of fly-infested, half-eaten cat food, I switched to tins. These contain three or four meals per tin and are made of aluminium, which saves a huge amount of energy when recycled rather than made from ore - much better than pouches. The cat didn't even object to the new diet :-)
ReplyDeleteThe LED lights have arrived now and they're horrible. Because the light's so directional the room feels a lot darker, even when the lit areas (work surfaces) are plenty light enough. They were advertised as 'warm' light but they're not at all.
The information about light bulbs here and on AV's blog has been really interesting (AV - my attempts at a conversation on your blog failed because my longer comments just disappeared into the ether), and has prompted me to do a lot of research. I'll get round to writing a blog post on it when I'm less busy, but the conclusion is, I'm happy sticking with my CFLs.
http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2011/10/save-worldstop-fleas-with-natural.html
ReplyDeleteI am looking for something to stop fleas in humans, have you anyhing for fleas for pets?
What about that new product that you spray on cats and dogs mouth to stop gum disease? Seems dodgy. I am curious and that will be my project for next week.
Here's the result of my little research project on CFLs, which entirely agrees with what EcoGrrl said here:
ReplyDeletehttp://growingthingsandmakingthings.blogspot.com/2011/10/choosing-light-bulbs.html
I have a big problem with putting mercury in the garbage! It might be a small amount in one bulb but, imagine that everyone does it. They can be recycled so, why throw them out?
ReplyDelete