Hello to everyone,
im an electrician from germany so please sorry if my english is not correct...
My question is what to do with the energy saving light globes, how to recycle?
Thanks for your help.
Hello to everyone,
im an electrician from germany so please sorry if my english is not correct...
My question is what to do with the energy saving light globes, how to recycle?
Thanks for your help.
you can take them to your local builders express if they have a recycle bin for this type of lamp or if you take them to your local electrical wholesaler they sometimes have a special bin...by the way for those who dont know...thowing them into the bin so they break is not the idea...they should only be broken once put into a special vessel.
Last edited by murdock; 07-Mar-11 at 08:09 PM.
Hi King, welcome to TFSA.
Most people I know just throw them in the trash. It's a trade off, either dump carbon into the atmosphere by driving to a special collection point of put trace amounts of mercury into the ground when they end up at the local land-fill if you throw them in the trash. With the price of petrol and lack of time it's an easy decision for most.
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That what im scared of, that people throw it in the trash...
it should be recycled, so the "green" energy savers actually not good for the nature!
You're right, they're not good for the environment but neither is burning fossil fuels whilst driving to a recycling depot.
It's business politics. The ideal solution would be to remove built-in obsolescence from all consumer products. Energy saving lamps are designed to last a certain length of time. This lifespan is carefully calculated by the manufacturers along with their pricing points. They don't want it to fail under warranty but they certainly don't want it to last ten years either because this would have a negative effect on sales volumes. In the last two/three decades products from the far East have amplified this issue, the product price has dropped to the end user by 50% perhaps but the product lifespan has dropped by 70% in some items. Allowing the manufacturers to decide the lifespan of products has a massive cost to the environment. As long as consumers have a 'cheapest price' mentality when purchasing the only way around this I can see is with legislation.
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Dave A (08-Mar-11)
Can I suggest that legislation should always be a last resort when it comes to prescriptive issues. Legislation should prevent harmful conduct, not enforce best practice. The moment you go beyond "bare minimum standards", the unintended consequences count starts climbing and most often you only end up placing the diligent at a disadvantage to the unscrupulous.
I've been a firm believer for some years now that before you resort to legislation, one should give education a really good crack first if you want to adjust social norms.
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How would you propose to educate customers to buy longer lasting products if they cost double the price? How would you educate manufacturers to built longevity into their products at the cost of sales volumes? This problem has been around for decades and the only thing that's going to have an effect on the status quo is when the raw materials get scarcer but then it's too late.
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How much extra would it cost to make a CFL that lasted twice as long as the current "standard"?
And as for buying at double the price, I do it all the time when it's worth it - and I wouldn't be surprised if you do too. Take anyone that buys a Hilti power tool as example - quite often you can buy a cheap "equivalent" at less than half the cost, but is it a real saving when the cheapie breaks within months and the Hilti goes on for years?
So yes, I think consumers can be educated. It just takes some exposure of the issue.
In fact - come to think of it - let's talk shoes! I've seen people who don't earn big money buying real quality stuff because they know it lasts.
The starting point is trying to get the issue front-of-mind.
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Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services
Dave, can not agree with you more on legislation. The more legislation gets implemented, the slower systems seem to move, its like a growing iceberg, and we are the Titanic, it can only go one way, yes there will be a few survivors, but the ship goes down.
Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za
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