I drove the wee wifey to WalMart this afternoon, and wandered the aisles whilst she collected her knitting needles and canned goods. I was shocked and disappointed by a package I noticed in the aisle near their electronics department, a WalMart exclusive bundling a compact flourescent light bulb with a DVD of Al Gore's inconvenient propaganda.
This package isn't going to to make the watermelons start liking them, so I have to assume the motivation is to sell more of the light bulbs. I like compact flourescents, but I really don't believe they are actually going to change things.
Posted by triticale at December 15, 2006 06:49 PM | TrackBackFlourescent bulbs contain Mercury.
That's not exactly good environmental policy.
Posted by: Aaron at December 15, 2006 07:48 PMThe bulbs also last a long time. And coal-fired power plants, which generate a high proportion of the nation's electricity, release a fair amount of mercury which is difficult to filter out. I expect that the mercury emissions saved via the power reductions exceed the mercury involved in disposal of the used fluorescents.
I think this Wal-Mart bundling play is really offensive, and if I buy any CFL bulbs I will be sure to buy them elsewhere.
Posted by: david foster at December 19, 2006 09:15 PM