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NORTH CAROLINA -- Former Vice President Al Gore isn’t the only one concerned about the environment, as more and more people are starting to become aware of global warming and experiencing ‘eco-anxiety.’"People are afraid of the future, they're afraid of what's going to happen,†said licensed therapist Melissa Pickett, saying of one patient, "She brought up during the course of our session that she had just read an article about the polar bears and the loss of habitat and she started crying … she said 'I just don't understand this.'"....snip....Debra Kincaid is so gripped by the environment and the future of the planet, she can’t even force herself to throw away a broken coffee maker. She has chosen to have it repaired instead."It can almost make you want to bury your head in the sand with a sense of hopelessness,†she said. “If everybody tosses their coffee maker into the landfill then pretty soon that's all we have."
Q and A: Mercury in energy-saving light bulbs07 January 2008Old-fashioned tungsten light bulbs are due to be phased out in Australia, the UK, and the US over the next five years, and the spotlight has fallen on their low-energy replacements. The new light bulbs contain mercury, which has triggered a rash of concerned media stories - but is there any fact behind the fear? Chemistry World investigates. Why do low-energy light bulbs contain mercury?It's essential to the way they work. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) are tubes containing mercury and noble gases (typically argon). When the bulb is switched on, electrons stream from a tungsten-coated coil. They collide with mercury atoms, exciting their electrons and creating flashes of ultraviolet light. A phosphor coating (typically composed of metal oxides or phosphates) on the inside of the tube absorbs this light and re-emits it at visible wavelengths. This is also how fluorescent strip lights work.How much mercury do CFLs contain?Up to 5 milligrams - a tiny amount when compared to the 3 grams in a mercury thermometer, says Adrian Westwood, from the UK Environment Agency. Fluorescent strip lights contain similarly tiny amounts, reduced from the 100 milligrams present in first-generation CFL bulbs.Couldn't we do without mercury in household lighting?Not in a fluorescent light. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) don't contain mercury, but they're still costly, and researchers have only just begun working out how to diffuse their focused light to suit household lamps. Old-fashioned incandescent tungsten filament bulbs don't contain mercury either. But more mercury is emitted by fossil-fuel fired power plants when producing electricity for the incandescent lights, than for the energy-saving CFLs. ... What danger is there if a CFL breaks?'No amount of mercury is good for you, but the very small amount contained in a single modern CFL is unlikely to cause any harm, even if the lamp should be broken,' says the UK Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra). Their advice for cleaning up a broken bulb:Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous waste and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of hazardous household waste....
