Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Touche' I wasn't considering this in the realm of possibility. Rod switched ours, he was probably afraid I'd break a nail. Josh, where's my halo d_mmit?

EB,

You (well, the oven) made the NBC Evening News!

Amy

Tim,



All,

The other issue with CFs and cold is that using them in the cold makes them burn out quickly. For example, in our apartment which is often 55-60 when we come home, CFs last around 1 year on average. That's compared to incandescents, which last 3 years on average. That may also be our Victorian wiring, but I've had hardware store staff confirm it.

One of the reasons CFs were supposed to be more environmental is that they're supposed to last forever, lessening toxic waste. However, that's only true of the $20-a-bulb super-premium CFs. The regular ones ... the ones the government is subsidizing ... only last a couple years. And they produce far more toxic waste both to manufacture and to dispose of than incandescents do.

LED bulbs are a different story, but the technology isn't quite there yet.

This is why I call initiatives like CFs "greenwashing"; it's a way for the politicians to look "green" while actually not producing any net benefit for the environment. Here in SF, the biggest promoter of CFs is the power company (PG&E). Why? Because every time they get the average SF household to lower their energy consumption, they raise the rates. Their goal (and I've heard this from a PG&E manager) is that in 5 years people will be paying the same amount for half as much electricity.

And don't even get me started on the plastic bags.

A modest proposal,

Stock up on those Halogen bulbs.

CC

Why not get you started on the plastic bags? It's an interesting subject. I've read some overviews of that study and I'm still not convinced that cloth isn't better. They only compare them to canvas and paper. Around here, most people use that non-woven stuff -- like a super-heavy-duty handi-wipe material. I have a couple of those; they were promotional freebies. I have a couple of the hemp string bags -- nothing is better for toting large amounts of produce. I also have a two canvas totes. They are so old, the grocery store I got them from has changed hands 3 times; I'd say 15 years, at least. I know I've used them way over 200 times, which would put them in the "greener than plastic" category. Not that I think outlawing plastic is the way to go. Plastic Target bags fit my office trash can perfectly and produce bags fit the bathroom trash. Geekboy uses them for scooping the cat box. I remember reading that when they outlawed plastic bags in some place in Britain, people ended up going out and buying almost as many plastic bags as they used to get for free, so that they could use them for household purposes. We also re-use paper bags that come in to the house. I sort the recycling into them. That way the trash guys can just tip the bag full of cans or plastic, or whatever into the appropriate slot and chuck the bag into the paper slot. I think it's just weird that the city doesn't require us to sort our recycling.

Tim,

Yeah, I think that we've had the same halogen in our bedroom for 7 years now. Of course, the energy savings isn't as much. We basically went with it because that fixture is on a dimmer (very romantic, oo la la!). On the other hand, since we rarely use it at full power, (After all, most chores like sorting laundry or making the bed are done when the sun is up.) maybe the energy savings is pretty good.

Telluride is the first town in Colorado to ban plastic bags.

Amy

P.S. The journalist reporting is one of my closest friends.

Here's a question: How much mercury (not to mention C-14) is emitted from a coal plant to power a 100 watt incandescent bulb for 3 years?

OK, found it: according to the EPA (based on national average emissions from generation), a 13 watt CFL bulb creates less than 1/3 of the mercury emissions over its 8000 hour life compared to 60-watt incandescent bulbs, including landfilling the mercury in the CFL bulb.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/p ... ercury.pdf

Hah! I thought it was just me. My way of recycling them as well.

posted while eating a 17th tier calzone; not sure why I'm bothering. blech.

Nope, not getting into it.