And congrats on the GRE

Thank you for reading and leaving your thoughtful comments here!

To answer your quiz: I broke a light-bulb just the other day! Maybe I’m just clumsy, but I would estimate that I break anywhere from 2 to five light bulbs a year (but not a CFL, because, as you suggested, I am extra-careful with those).

I agree that CFLs are more efficient, and I understand why. The main points I was trying to raise in this post were: 1. CFLs are an environmental contaminant, and most people aren’t aware of the potential hazards as well as the extra attention they need to pay to clean-up and disposal of these bulbs. For example: I was in the thrift store a few months ago, and a customer knocked over a lamp with a CFL bulb in it. The lamp and the bulb both broke. No one acted like it was a big deal, and when I explained the precautionary steps needed for cleanup to the lady working in the store, she looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t hang around to see if she took my advice, because, like the EPA advised, I left the area. I would be willing to bet, however, that the bulb fragments were swept up with a broom and tossed right into the regular old trash without being sealed. Because that is a way, way easier way to handle a broken light bulb; people, even when they know better, still tend to do what’s most convenient. And 2: I do not enjoy the light produced by CFLs. Efficiency aside, I find the ambiance to be inferior.

Though I am admittedly a bit of a laggard when it comes to advances in technology, I am not against progress, especially progress made for the sake of the environment. I’m all for a more efficient light bulb. But I don’t think we’ve satisfactorily solved the problem. What troubles me about the CFL phenomenon is that we are introducing toxins into our immediate environments and trusting that people are educated and motivated enough to do the right things and handle those toxins appropriately. It strikes me as even more ridiculous when a better solution is simply to use less electricity and turn off lights that aren’t being used. It’s so easy. Less electricity used = decreased emissions from power plants.

But the easiness of this solution is exactly why I’ll never be appointed Energy Czar to a presidential administration: it’s not scientific, it’s not slick, and it generates no profit.

This fear over mercury from a broken CFL is misplaced, IMO, given that the CFLs are a lot more efficient than incandescent bulbs, which turn *most* of the electricity into heat and not light, and thus are responsible for more mercury being released into the environment at the coal power plant which supplies the electricity.

And if there’s a concern regarding CFLs breaking, well, here’s a simple and easy solution – be extra careful when handling and replacing them. Many cities already have hazardous waste disposal facilities (stuff that’s a lot more hazardous than CFLs), and have started accepting CFLs too.

There isn’t a creative writing program in the country that wouldn’t be glad to have you. Relax. Get through it. Then kick some ass in grad school.

MBJ