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: West Neanderthal Drive

Global Warming Update XI

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We're all for saving money, and we're not above going green if that's what it takes to pocket a few extra shekels. So, it doesn't bother us to use compact fluorescent light bulbs around Casa de los Perros Grandes wherever possible.
Of course, the CFLs don't actually live up to their hype. For example, they will last for 10 years, which is longer than regular incandescents, but that's only if you turn them on and then never turn them off. Once you start messing with the light switch, you get maybe six or eight months.
And what happens if they happen to break? Our first impulse is to get the broom. No way, Giuseppe. Not only do the little suckers stay lit for up to a minute after the glass breaks, setting fire to anything nearby, it turns out that there's a teensy bit of mercury inside each luminous glass spiral. Mercury is a toxic chemical, which makes a broken CFL a toxic spill.
The people from the Environmental Protection Agency have been thinking about that, and here's what they suggest:

Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room
1. Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
4. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
5. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
6. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
7. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Disposal of Clean-up Materials
8. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
9. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
10. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

More instructions, as if you need them, live here.
That business about "the next normal trash" jumped out at us. In Kansas, fluorescent lights are considered "industrial waste" under K.S.A. 65-3402(x) (which lawyers, the skeptical and the unspeakably depraved can find here). Once they break, it's likely that they would be "hazardous waste" under K.S.A. 65-3430(e)(1)(A) (which lives here). In fact, the statutory definition of "trash" and "garbage" specifically exclude industrial waste (same thing, here).
We haven't yet pinned down the draconian penalties that our assembled Solons have imposed for putting one of these planet-saving light bulbs into the trash, but we're sure they're out there. Our Legislature subscribes to the notion "Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping?" at least where there's the possibility of a big fine being levied.
And what suddenly brings this topic to mind?
Ain't sayin'.

Full post as published by West Neanderthal Drive on March 26, 2008 (boomark / email).