When we are warned of the dangers of government intervention in the marketplace, most assume the unintended consequences pertain to obscure, off-the-radar effects. In reality, regulatory oversights tend towards the blindingly obvious, like “laws of physics” or “toxicity“;
Canada’s mercury-waste facilities are either patchwork or non-existent as millions of light bulbs containing the highly toxic chemical are set to flood the marketplace.
That’s a key finding of a report commissioned by Environment Canada in the run-up to a major change in the way Canadians light their homes.
Beginning next January, a new regulation will effectively ban the sale of standard incandescent bulbs in favour of energy-efficient versions, most of which contain mercury.
Of course, this only applies to those of you who haven’t already stockpiled a lifetime supply of incandescents. Governments are turning us into preppers, one stupid regulation at a time. (h/t Dan T)
I’ve got a couple cases of the incandescent bulbs in the basement beside the 100 amp automatic transfer switch on the Generac 14Kw generator. Preppers sounds like a toothless Arkansas back woodser tending his still. I assume that’s the intention of the enlightened MSM that coined it.
I prefer my old Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”.
just drop used CFL’s at your local IKEA. (if you got one) Or ask wherever you purchased them.
its the new consumer model. “I bought this here, now its junk I’m returning it , for free!”
Every by-weekly grocery trip to Safeway includes another case of bulbs… I’ve got quite the stockpile going…
Note to self – must buy more real light bulbs. The ~100 in the basement probably aren’t enough.
Anyway, light bulb burns out, light bulb goes into the garbage. I’ll save my time and effort for real problems.
Banning incandescents would be folly of the highest order. It is not too late to write your MP or the PM to stop this madness. CFLs contain mercury, a highly toxic element. They are dangerous to your health if you break one because mercury vapour gets into the air and you breathe it in. The protocol for cleaning up after breakage stops just short of calling in a Haz-Mat team. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency has four pages of instructions on how to do a proper clean-up.
It is irresponsible for government to promote the widespread use of such a dangerous product when there is a perfectly satisfactory, inexpensive and safe alternative readily available.
Not to worry here in Ontario.
Ol’ Dildo and his dickheads (good name for a rock n roll band, eh?)thought this all out.
In just a few months they’re going out to the money tree in the backyard in Queen’s Park, picking off another billion or two, and starting up MOLEST: Ministry of Lightbulbs, Energy, Squandering and Taxes.
Whadaya mean, it’s already up and running?
Has anybody in gubermint checked to see how these suckers should be disposed of,or the chore required to clean up a broken one??? Bet you they haven’t (I win).
http://www.ehow.com/how_2174272_compact-fluorescent-light-bulb-cfl.html
I just looovvvveeee these unintended consequences.
Just checked my stock. Gotta stock up some more.Only got ~350 in different wattages,mostly 40 & 60’s.
I have a a lifetime supply (if need be) of quality 100watt incandescent bulbs purchased before the GE plant closed. I’m hoping saner minds prevail in this head-long dive to expose the public to dangerous toxicty in their home and ground water, and force us into a common technolody which is inferior and expensive. There can be no explanation for government interference in the market with technology bans and forced market demand except the almighty insider profit motive and the undue political influence purchased by the purveyors of this dangerous sub standard product – the free market sure as hell would never favor such a dangerous, expensive inefficient technology.
I’m shocked that a CPC government lept into bed with the green tech racketeers with the incandescent ban. Living proof that graft and influence brokering crosses all party lines.
We need to get on the backs of our MP’s and keep the pressure on to can this utter stupidity.
We’ve already started to stockpile incandescent bulbs, especially 100’s, 60’s and trilight…
I don’t see a problem with disposal. As a caller to John Gormley’s program suggested this week, just drop them off at your MP’s office. For those of you who live inconveniently far from such offices I add mail it to them at the House of Commons. (It will get there and be opened before anyone discovers the return address on the package isn’t real.)
Of course, stockpile the incandescent bulbs if you like them.
> It is not too late to write your MP or the PM to stop this madness
PM himself created this madness. Do you think he will listen? It is Harper’s pet law. I guess big pharma has a new mercury poisoning drug waiting for an opportunity, how otherwise can anyone explain that a ‘conservative’ PM is hell bent on poisoning his country with mercury while our rivers already flow with high mercuric content? Harper is a turncoat. I still remember his ‘firearms act has to be repealed entirely’, I remember that when reading his letter stating that ‘his government has no plans to make further changes to the firearms act’ after registry repeal. Traitor!
Killing the planet in order to save it . . .
Test – thanks…
Mail can be sent to your MP without postage, if I am reading the government website correctly. Perhaps the best solution is to mail spent bulbs to your MP, with a note asking what is the proper way to dispose of the attached?
I am as opposed to mandatory adoption of CFLs as anybody here, but geeze Louise, let’s get real.
We have been using conventional linear fluorescent tubes for generations now. They all contain mercury, and the older ones contained a lot compared to current ones. We never used to hyperventilate when one got broken; just swept up the mess and went on with life. And the broken ones and the burned-out ones went into the landfill.
Get this: the irrational panic about the dangers of mercury comes from the same strain of radical environmentalism that gives us the irrational panic about CO2-induced global warming. It’s all about making us wards of the nanny state, by not allowing us to make choices that “might” be risky. If you swallow the line about a broken CFL “needing” a Hazmat crew to clean it up, you have just accepted half their bullshit. You really have to work hard to poison yourself with elemental mercury, which is what fluorescent tubes contain. The best way to do it is to inhale concentrated mercury vapor while attempting to bake mercury out of gold amalgam, as happens to many of the artisanal miners in Latin America.
There are legitimate reasons to object to the mandatory phase-out of incandescent bulbs, the main one being that the government has no damn business mandating that in the first place.
By the way, and totally off-topic. I have ranted here about captchas. I recently bought a 23″ LCD monitor, and set a better screen resolution, and captchas have ceased to be much of a problem. I would suggest the issue with them is that “someone” out there assumes we all have high-res screens. If the size of the captcha box could simply be increased, possibly those with smaller or low-res screens would have fewer problems with them. Heh, wouldn’t you know it. I think maybe the captcha changed while I composed this long post?
I’m sure Harper will repeal this nonsense once he gets his majority.
Just ship your dead CFL bulbs that are supposed to last five years, but only last five months to:
David Suzuki Foundation
c/o David Suzuki
219 – 2211 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6K 4S2
They’re the ones recommending we use them, so I’m sure they have a cogent and environmentally friendly disposal plan in place. When in doubt, put an ‘expert’ in charge.
> We have been using conventional linear fluorescent tubes for generations now.
gordinkneehill confuses voluntary business use of fluorescent bulbs with massively mandated use of them in every residence. You did not use fluorescent bulbs above your baby’s crib I bet. If you had children at all.
The unintnded consequence (or perhaps intended?) of govt over-reach makes us ALL into lawbreakers.
* When the twisty bulbs die, they go out in the regular trash with everything else
* We cross the border regularly to Buffalo, and routinely bring back incandescents as well as effective presticides / bug KILLERS (not just bug annoyers) and effective herbicides / weed KILLERS (not just weed delayers), all of which have been banned in Ontario under Premier Doofus for several years. The dandelion is now the unintended provincial flower and white grubs have destroyed several million acres of formerly beautiful lawns.
As for the curly light bulbs, my mercury will leak at the dump …that’s WHY it’s called a dump.
> I’m sure Harper will repeal this nonsense once he gets his majority.
Welcome to 2012. What year are you from?
This blog feels more surreal by day.
Mark Steyn had a great rant on this a while back guest hosting for Rush, reading aloud all the steps one must do if a bulb breaks.
As per the cleanup recommendations, a buddy of mine went even further ripping out all the carpeting in his son’s room when a bulb broke. Now our landfills will be unnecessarily burdened with toxic carpeting. Thanks greenies.
I’m fully stocked with about 50 incandescents in my basement.
Why not skip the CFLs and go straight to LEDs?
What one should do of course is to dispose of your CFL’s at the nearest Fed. Govt. office. ” Good Heavens” one of them
accidentally slipped from my hand and fell on the floor and broke on my way in here and I guess you should call a HazMat team to clean it up. A few accidents like that and the Govt might get the idea.
The rush to go green could well destroy Boing, with help from Obama of course.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/dreamliner-fires-spark-new-doubts-about-a-green-energy-technology/article/2519353#.UP7rnB0Yv87
Who is this “we” that you speak of?
Are you a Queen?
You claim to be a “rational skeptic” but keep coming down on the Warmist side of each argument. Interesting.
Since you voted Liberal and the LPC had the same position on this issue why would you want PMSH to repeal this, or are you being a facetious hypocrite?(rhetorical question)
Davers6.
Have been doing that as well (Michigan) however be prepared. I understand the US is doing the same thing so get your bulbs before 1/1/2014.
As for the pesticides. Went to the garden centre last summer to get an antidote for creeping charlie. The owner suggested I do what his customers do. Go to the US and buy Weed B Gon. Says he uses it on his own lawn.
454: I was joking.
Oz: You know what the difference between the Cons and Libs is right? The Conservatives are IN POWER and therefore the responsibility is theirs. Being called a hypocrite by one of Harper’s fanboys is the height of irony btw.
I don’t mind CFLs. They take a while to warm up, but they are adequate. As far as disposal goes, they go into my burning barrel and magically disappear the same way batteries do.
Reading comprehension isn’t your long suit, is it?
And the same can be said for Occam.
s far as disposal goes, they go into my burning barrel and magically disappear the same way batteries do.
Gee thanks for polluting the air we breathe.
The only inefficiency of the incandescent bulb energy is that it produces heat. Most farmers hang a light bulb in Rovers doghouse in winter to keep their best friend warm.It makes sense to use cfl’s in summer but not in winter when we use our lights more and want better lighting that doesn’t cause headaches and depression.
Several office towers in Saskatoon that converted to high efficient lighting now are freezing in winter.
The federated co-op building had to revamp their heating system to keep it warm. the Scotia towers aren’t wired heavy enough for plug in heaters so some employees wear fingerless gloves so they can use their keyboards.
In trying to accommodate the Green religion. They will kill us to save us. Where have we seen that mentality before? Frankly everything the environmentalist do inevitably causes rack & ruin.With loss of life or harm to man or animal.
I for one will not have a known poison to inhabit my environment . Phooey on the green padres with their legions of acolytes that would slowly poison us all.
All of this based on a proven lie as well.
Just pack up those burnt out mercury bulbs and send them to your M.P. Parcels to M.P.s require no postage.
So true. CFLs are obsolete already (and so are first gen LEDs). Banning incandescents is still wrong though. If I wanna heat my back yard with rows of light bulbs it’s nobody’s business but my own.
Las: BobC was joking.
Here on the left coast, where we get 95% of our electricity from glorious hydro (it’s renewable you know) the whole CFL thing is even sillier. But, even in the more frost bitten parts of Canada it makes little sense to ban useful sources of heat.
John Baird at least had the sense to postpone the ban but the dimwits still seem to think it should happen.
As for the toxicity of mercury, gordinkneehill has it about right: assuming you don’t drink it or heat it and then breathe it mercury is pretty safe. And the amount in a CFL is piddling. Older thermostats and thermometers were great sources of mercury when I was a kid (which probably explains a lot) and they are still around. (Mercury is very, very cool stuff to actually play around with but don’t tell the greenies.)
When we moved into our home 3 and a 1/2 yrs ago we should have bought all the ceiling fans we needed as we knew we’d be installing them room by room. Since we stupidly did not, we are now stuck with some that only take CFLs. Do you know how freaking hard it is to get 60 watt CFLs with candelabra bases? They just aren’t sold! When we find em we buy em all, but we are lucky to find a lone pkg here or there. Best of all do you know what happens when you put four 60 watt candelabra base CFLs in a ceiling fan!? Either one bulb goes out when it heats up, or all the bulbs flicker!! So what we have to do is remove one of the 60 watt bulbs and put in a 40. Yep…ridiculous!! Ceiling fans with light fixtures with CFLs aren’t really meant to light up a room for any good use. They shed as much light as light fixtures did during the 1930s, when all you can use is 40 watts…
I’ve criticized PMSH plenty for this light bulb legislation.
It’s his gesture to the environmentalists so that he can point to it and claim he cares about the environment if the need should arise in a debate or similar situation.
He pulled Canada out of Kyoto.
Dion and Ignattief not only would have stayed in Kyoto, they both had plans for a national Cap & Trade scheme.(carbon taxes is what you were voting for)
Silky Pony Justin Trudeau takes ‘the stupid’ one step further, he’s against the Northern Gateway.
Imagine trying to buy Eastern votes with Cap & Trade while killing the very industry you plan to bilk to get the money to buy those votes.
You can shear a sheep over and over but if you kill it the shearing is done, Buckwheat.
Realpolitik isn’t getting everything you want and none of what you don’t want, mostly it’s just making sure you get the lesser of two evils.
I noticed that you’re a big fan of marijuana legalization, LAS, but you vote for the LPC which is the party that criminalized it in the first place.
I agree. Government are really stupid sometimes. They shouldn’t enforce the new light bulbs when clearly they aren’t unsafe.