Eco-friendly lightbulbs vs. Everyone else. Lights lose.?

Question

I saw 85 pages of answers on a featured question moments ago, entitled "What's the most creative way to inspire friends and family to use eco-friendly light bulbs" - or something very close to that.
I could not believe, 85 pages of answers to this question.

Well since my answer was lost on page 85, never to be read by anyone, I shall paste it here.

You're kidding right?
As if there's no other pressing, important issues in the world, we need to concentrate on eco-friendly light bulbs... By this, one can assume that the typical light bulbs of the past 50 or so years are all damaging the environment so bad, that this issue has to take precedence over the war on terror, lying politicians, Iran's nuke, North Korea's nuke... Even Anna Nicole merits itself as more newsworthy.

I can not believe that this is a featured question. There are so many more things that are actually important than eco-friendly light bulbs.

We're talking about LIGHT BULBS... Yeah, that's important news.

How can this be so pressing, so important, so cutting edge that it merits 85 pages of response?

This is sickening. Yes, I care about the environment, and yes, I think important environmental issues need to be addressed through public discourse of ideas and strategies. but to assume for a moment that light bulbs play any type of an integral role in the overall global environment is ludicrous.

So that this does not get flagged as "Not a question" I pose this to you, gentle reader:

Are light bulbs that important?
How much difference will it make if I switch to eco-friendly light bulbs?
And could someone please post a link to what exactly the benefits are of eco-friendly light bulbs? If they're made of glass like regular bulbs, how is that eco-friendly at all?

I'm very interested in some feedback here, so if you wouldn't mind toss a star on this, let's see if we can get some responses displaying an intellectual thought process.

Answer 1

Sounds like you think similar to me or vice versa. What on earth can one do to stick to the issue...hasn't changed much in over 200 years...save the union... not the light bulb. shows how people deliberately stick their head in the sand... not even a nuke is gonna wake these people up.

Answer 2

Where is the proof that global warming is even real? Other the a bunch of people getting together and coming to a consensus there is no proof. Second I will never use the silly things. I like my light bulbs to put out light. A 14 watt eco-friendly bulb will never ever no matter how hard you want it to put out as much light as a 60 watt regular bulb. Also there have been reports from some scientists that they contain mercury. Remember that stuff. So as asked where is the proof. The earth goes through numerous warming/cooling cycles. If you all pay attention to all these reports that you tout about global warming you will find that the temp of the earth had raised a whopping 1 degree in the last 100 years. Plus if you all had not noticed for the last month you have not heard much about global warming cuz of all the cold weather. It is just a bunch of BS.The bulb's connector fit into the fixture like an incandescent bulb, but the base of the bulb does not (referring to the large white piece where the bulb connects). This usually creates a tight fit inside of the fixture, if the bulb will fit at all (I could not even get the bulbs into my ceiling fan). Also, I replaced my outdoor bulbs (porch and driveway lights) with the new bulbs, and found that bulb is so tall that it extends into the top of the fixture. This causes the white base to be the visible part, while the bulb itself extends into the top of the fixture, blocking the light.

Answer 3

The icandescent bulbs most people use in their houses are incredibly inefficient. A 100 watt lightbulb produces 95 watts of heat and only 5 watts of light. On the other hand, a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) produces just as much light while using one-fifth as much energy. The ecological benefits of CFLs have nothing to do with what they are made of, which is what you suggest in your question; the benefit is the energy savings. You also say there are more important issues in the world than light bulbs, but it has more to do with global warming, which most scientists agree is one of the urgent issues we need to address. You say the war on terror is more important than global warming, but if you look beneath the surface you will see that the "War on Terror" is a war for oil, in other words, a war for energy. By saving energy with things like CFLs, we can not only help stop global warming, but we can eliminate our need for foreign energy, thereby getting our troops out of the Middle East. The "insignificant" light bulb can help kill two big birds with a seemingly small stone. You also say there is nothing wrong with lightbulbs invented 50 years ago. Well, if you were going in for surgery, would you want your doctor using techniques invented 50 years ago when there are safer alternatives available? Of course not, that would be stupid. So why do you want to use old technology that is wasteful, inefficient, and produces unneeded heat when you could use fluorescent bulbs that actually pay for themselves in energy savings? I recommend you read between the lines before trashing someone's attempt to do some good in this world.

Answer 4

I assume that you are aware of the pollution that dirt burners and nuclear power plants produce. I also assume that you are aware that most countries don't utilize solar, wind, and hydroelectric to power most of their cities. That said a 60 watt bulb uses (you guessed it) 60watts. Now the importance of the enviro-bulbs is simply this. If we as a race can not change our habits we can at least cut the amount of electricity needed by switching to bulbs that will not use as much power. And assuming that our demand does not increase due to the Assumed freedom granted by CFL's the end result will be less energy needed vies-a-vie less pollution produced because less energy will be needed to power the same amount of homes... This will also result in less reliance in oil producing nations, hence the need to wage war will be lessened and well Iraq will become but a memory. Narrow thinking is why we have to discuss these issues in the first place... one has to remember that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.(what most people don't understand is that there are millions of opposites and every reaction is itself an action. this results in a cascade. What we do today will inextricably effect tomorrow)

Answer 5

You are right. The so called eco friendly bulbs cost more in the long run because they burn out in a week or so and you have to drive your gas hog to the store to buy a replacement. The old bulbs are made of stable materials, glass, tungsten, and aluminum. The new bulbs have a control circuit made of silicon doped with stuff like arsenic and who knows what kind of gas and coating. The new bulbs poison the environment when you throw them away into the landfill.

Answer 6

Anybody can do something simple like eco-friendly light bulbs.
But might have trouble tackling terrorism, lying polititions, Iran, Iraq, . I sure don't know how I can fix those problems. Should I write Osama, and Kim IL and the leader of Iran and ask them to be nice? Shall I ask the politions to stand in a corner until they stop their lying?

Get Real, people do what they can.

Answer 7

I agree with you. I think that the whole global warming thing is serious, but my God. It will be virtually impossible to get everyone to switch to these "earth-friendly" lightbulbs. There are bigger, more pressing issues going on in the world right now that I only wish could get the attention of eco-friendly lightbulbs.

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp