Let's Celebrate EARTH DAY!!!

packermatt7

packermatt7

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On the first Earth Day, scientists predicted the Earth would be 11 degrees cooler, 80% of the current animal species would be extinct, and the average life expectancy would be 41 years.
So here's to Earth Day.

But wait, Congress had some bright (pun) ideas for this planet as well.

They banned regular light bulbs we use now (manufactured in Kentucky), and require in the near future that we all use the energy-saving "green" fluorescent bulbs...

...which are manufactured in China
...and contain Mercury that could poison anyone nearby if one breaks.

So lets ship all these "green" light bulbs to America in gas-guzzling cargo ships, and when you're done with them (they break or go out), make sure you drive them in your SUV to the nearest recycling center, remembering the whole time, that you are, in fact, saving the planet.
 
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Mercury by itself is not toxic. Only the vapors (very small vapor pressure) and the organo-mercury compounds are toxic. The CFB are much better than a traditional bulb, so that was actually a great move.

Careful about rejecting a "green" move just because it sounds like a hippy liberal thing to do.
 
Not why I reject it... it just seems odd that we have bulbs that are made here, and we are sending jobs overseas.

I don't know if there are any cases yet, but I've heard that the bulbs are dangerous if broken.

I'm pretty cynical when it comes to global warming and all that.

Besides, those lights give off ugly factory lighting. :frown:

Maybe I don't know enough about it to talk...
 
Mercury (Hg) as a heavy metal is certainly highly toxic. "Mad As A Hatter" came from the fact that the hat industry used mercury in the processing. Quicksilver (liquid mercury) is hard to ingest and harmful only from the vapor given off. Still, I wuldn't want to drink a glass or let it touch any gold jewelry. Check the net regarding schools that have closed because someone spilled Mercury in a lab.
 
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hornetguy said:
Mercury by itself is not toxic. Only the vapors (very small vapor pressure) and the organo-mercury compounds are toxic. The CFB are much better than a traditional bulb, so that was actually a great move.

Careful about rejecting a "green" move just because it sounds like a hippy liberal thing to do.
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I hate the "green" longer lasting lights because they...put out TERRIBLE light.
 
Mercury (Hg) as a heavy metal is certainly highly toxic. "Mad As A Hatter" came from the fact that the hat industry used mercury in the processing. Quicksilver (liquid mercury) is hard to ingest and harmful only from the vapor given off. Still, I wuldn't want to drink a glass or let it touch any gold jewelry. Check the net regarding schools that have closed because someone spilled Mercury in a lab.
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Liquid mercury used to be used as a laxative. The intestines do not absorb it and it didn't cause long term harm (or short term). The organo-mercury compounds used in velvet processing (mad-hatter) were toxic for sure. Like I said, the vapor and the organic-mercuries are very toxic. It has a very low vapor pressure, REALLY low. The schools that evacuated due to mercury spills were idiots and didn't understand mercury. We had a discussion in the chem dept here last week about the crazy antics of schools that did that because of the real properties of mercury. A thermometer breaking isn't going to kill anyone unless they sniff if all day.

It's the same problem with radon regulations as well. Politicians were the ones that wrote the memos and made the standards without regard for the science. So many misunderstandings out there.

http://www.mercuryfacts.org/
 
packermatt7 said:
Not why I reject it... it just seems odd that we have bulbs that are made here, and we are sending jobs overseas.
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Why is this so bad, we aren't an industrial society in America anymore, let someone else do that. (my opinion).

Regardless check this site out: http://www.tradekey.com/product_list/cid/0457/Incandescent-Bulbs.htm

Every incandescent on there is produced in China anyway.

If you want to keep jobs here, how about lowering the corporate tax rate? When we're number 4 in the world for the highest corporate tax rate, that is more likely to send people away than light bulbs.

GE on CFLighting - http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html...FL_July_2007FAQ_and_fact_sheet.pdf&images=yes
 
tpg said:
Reminds me of the mercury in the fish scare a few years back.....no science there either if I remember correctly.
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Yup.

For example with Radon. The standard is 4mCu/L (I think those units are right) because it was the lowest amount they could detect (they'd prefer to make the standard 0). The athletic department head here (Dr/BGen Mueh) is a chemist (former dept head) specializing in Radon topics. Radiation is GOOD! If you look at a chart of radiation level vs. immune system function in people (and other organisms), at 0 radiation exposure, your immune system might as well be infected with HIV. You need a certain threshold level to keep you healthy, and radon certainly isn't going to change that anytime soon. There's a full essay I could write on this topic alone, but I'll leave that alone.
 
hornetguy said:
For example with Radon. The standard is 4mCu/L (I think those units are right) because it was the lowest amount they could detect (they'd prefer to make the standard 0). The athletic department head here (Dr/BGen Mueh) is a chemist (former dept head) specializing in Radon topics. Radiation is GOOD! If you look at a chart of radiation level vs. immune system function in people (and other organisms), at 0 radiation exposure, your immune system might as well be infected with HIV. You need a certain threshold level to keep you healthy
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hornetguy said:
Liquid mercury used to be used as a laxative. The intestines do not absorb it and it didn't cause long term harm (or short term). The organo-mercury compounds used in velvet processing (mad-hatter) were toxic for sure. Like I said, the vapor and the organic-mercuries are very toxic. It has a very low vapor pressure, REALLY low.
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:yllol: I love your posts Hornet! So scientifical and straight to the point! :thumb: Outstanding!
 
hornetguy said:
Here's an article from popular mechanics (I trust them) about both mercury levels in CFB and the light emitted. Go get some better bulbs my friend! Government contracted ones are always going to suck!

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/home_journal_news/4217864.html
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4215199.html
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Unfortunately the bulbs I was referring to were not government contracted ones, but instead ones I bought at Target, on my own. I hate them. I will never buy them again. :eek:
 
LineInTheSand said:
I hate the "green" longer lasting lights because they...put out TERRIBLE light.
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You're right, the light from them suck. But check this out. For the last few years, the PG&E (electric) bill for my home has been around $450 - $500 per month. For my office, it's been much, much larger.

A few months ago I changed about 1/2 of my bulbs in the house to those Green Ones to see what would happen. My bill dropped to $120 per month.

At the office, I haven't done it yet, because most of my cost is in the IDF and Server Room. But I'm probably going to change a few to see what happens.

The light does suck, but heck, the savings are hard to argue with.

JB
 
3 servers and 6 computers at home???

Sounds like a me, kind of. I have my servers and such at the office, VPN to the home.

At home, we use laptops, but I have a video surveillance system that runs HD IP cameras 2580 lines resolution each. Those store to a server with additional storage and of course UPS.

Then I've got the finger print readers at the perimeter doors, the lights, burglar alarm, fire alarm, the 56" TV, etc.

My Dad must be rolling in his grave. He was always so frugal.

JB
 
56" make you jealous!!! I'm about to get a new one. I'm a Samsung Dealer, so I get great deals. I'm about to upgrade to the new 1/2" thick LED Backlit. Probably 65", haven't decided.

The security I go overboard on. But I get great deals on it too. I own my own security firm. When I got out of the corps, I was being recruited by the Alphabet soup group, but my wife wanted me to do something safe for a change, so I got into the security biz. About 8 years ago, started out on my own and have done great.

I used to get a lot of strange looks from my neighbors on security, but in August of last year, I was up late working on a report for a customer. It was around 2:00am and I was on the couch working on the laptop. My dog (beagle) started growling, so I pulled up the video and saw someone with a hoodie on looking at me through the window. And about 4 or 5 others waiting in their car. Lights were on, cars in driveway. Not a burglary, not a peeping tom,,, this MO was a home invasion. My wife was asleep, my daughter just turned 17 a month before was asleep, and her cousin visiting from France (17 also) was asleep. I had a lot to defend.

I grabbed my Desert Eagle .50 ACP, chambered a round, dropped into the scene and put a warning shot at their feet, about 12" from the heel. Drew down on the vehicle and stayed on them with perfect sight alignment and sight picture until they were out of sight.

Cleared my weapon, put it on the table, called the cops and waited.

When my video showed the entire events, everything worked out. Cops complimented me, family thanked me, cops were able to see a cell phone drop out of their pocket as they ran from me (from the high def video) and the next day several neighbors wanted to be customers.

My dad, yeah, the old breed was frugal. My dad passed in 2005, but I remember he never spent a dime. He used to say he'd rather die with money in his wallet that his family could use, than to die with toys that they have to try to sell. He used to complain that when he visited I always wanted to take him a nice dinner.

I try to be like him as much as I can, but I fail fairly regularly.

JB
 
Mercury by itself is not toxic. Only the vapors (very small vapor pressure) and the organo-mercury compounds are toxic.
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correct but you didn't go far enough, chem major! In the environment mercury become MethyMercury which is an organic compound and highly toxic, especially to unborn children and young children.
When mercury makes its way from the ground to the ground water to the lakes, streams and oceans it is injested by fish and accumulates in their bodies. This is why eating the bigger fish - shark, tuna and swordfish have the greatest risk.

While an able bodied grown man may not be affected by mercury in the environment - it is very harmful for women of child bearing age and young children.

Hornetguy - your chem prof reminds me of my organic teacher way back in the day.... we used benzene in the lab -it had just been declared a known carcinogen- and of course had to be careful but he told us he used to practically bathe in that stuff. I have no idea if he is still alive though.

Remember the DDT fuss? DDT wasn't banned because it was harmful to humans. It was banned because the eggs of birds who were exposed cracked and the chicks failed to develop. DDT was significantly responsible for the near demise of the Bald Eagle.

Back to Earth Day - I remember the very first one. We lived just a block off a large college campus while my dad was in Vietnam. They had a huge festival and many displays - many proved to not have materialized (population explosion for one) but I would not want to go back to 1970. So many of our rivers and bays were polluted you could walk on them. We have had many successes in cleaning up the rivers and streams and bays - think Boston bay and the Chesapeake Bay. There are rivers my kids swim in that I would never have dared a generation ago.
The Bald Eagle is back and is a wonderful sight to behold.

You youngsters should check out "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. It was a groundbreaker.
 
Came across this yesterday:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_coastguard_tidal_power_042209/

The Coast Guard says it hopes to have a tidal power generator in the water by the end of the summer to provide electricity to its station in Eastport.
Capt. Jim McPherson said Wednesday the Coast Guard wants to tap into the power of Eastport’s 22-foot tides and 6-knot currents to provide a secondary power source for the Coast Guard facilities in the far eastern Maine city.
When the generator is installed, he said it would be the guard’s first foray into tidal power — and possibly the first federal government building anywhere.
McPherson said the project will have a $100,000 price tag and could serve as a prototype for other Coast Guard facilities in Alaska and Washington state.
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cool stuff. If you ever get a chance to go to the Bay of Fundy it is amazing.
Since I visted the CGA a couple of years ago - I was then and have been impressed at the Coast Guard's commitment to the environment.
 
The US Navy has also invested money in wave-powered electrical generation technology in Hawaii.

Navy-Funded Wave Farm Under Way in Hawaii

Oahu 13 November 2008 - Ocean Power Technologies and the Navy have joined together to create a small wave farm off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The company has installed one of its PowerBuoy units one mile off the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corp Base, with plans to install others in the near future to generate 1MW.

The PowerBuoy will be connected to the Oahu grid and Kaneohe Bay will serve as a test site for the Navy, which is hoping to install these units at bases around the world. This project is part of the Navy's larger goal of reducing their dependence on fuel shipments for power.
 
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