One of the several CFL light bulbs in my house stopped working last night. This is maybe the fourth or fifth CFL bulb in my house that has lasted less than a year, despite the claims of advocates that they have a longer life than incandescent bulbs. They certainly cost a lot more money to buy or replace, so I suspect that I have saved nothing, and may indeed be losing money. Not to mention all the energy expended in manufacturing the complex bulbs.This is the first one to burn out since I learned that they contain 4-5 mg of mercury. I am not going to just throw it in the trash. I don't want it breaking and spewing mercury into my trash can, and certainly don't want the mercury going to a landfull, and eventually into the water table. So, I am going to have to call up the City of Berkeley and see if they have any programs to safely handle CFLs. Apparently California law only mandates that they shall not be collected by a curbside household hazardous waste collection program unless...(Read Full Post)