Low energy light bulbs – the great mercury shock

Like many people these days I’m keen to reduce my carbon footprint and do all the usual energy saving stuff. Changing your tungsten light bulbs to energy saving bulbs is one of the easiest ways to make a difference without breaking the bank. So I, like most people, found the recent news that these ‘planet saving’ light bulbs are in fact fairly toxic rather shocking. It’s now come to light that low energy light bulbs contain mercury and need to be disposed of by the council and good luck to you if you break one! I’m familiar with the recycling of electrical waste legislation and I know that new electrical goods have to have an ‘end of life’ strategy incorporated into their design. And this is why I’m so confused about this whole light bulbs mess. Why isn’t there any information on the box about how to dispose of them? Are they really better for the environment when they contain mercury? And most worrying of all; are people going to switch back to the old style energy hungry light bulbs because they are afraid? At a time when people are switching to organic produce and avoiding parabens in toiletries it’s surprising that something labelled as green can be so deceptively dangerous.