The people of London are being given a chance to trade in their traditional light bulbs for energy efficient equivalent one in a joint scheme run by City Hall and the private sector partners.
From Friday, January 11 to Sunday, January 13 those wanting to get their hands on the free low-energy bulbs can pop into any of London's B&Q DIY stores and swap up to two old incandescent bulbs for energy efficient versions.
The scheme, which organisers have dubbed a “light bulb amnesty” (though one must say that is probably a rather silly title), is expected to be the first of many initiatives aiming to encourage the public to make small lifestyle changes which can add up to have a significant impact on carbon emissions.
It is a shame though that the same changes are not made in City Hall itself if we consider the waste and pollution that the New Year's Eve firework constituted. Apparently the London Assembly and its Mayor are of the “do as we tell you but don't do as we do” persuasion.
According to City Hall's calculations, if every home in London switched to low-energy bulbs, the capital would slash emissions by 500,000 tonnes of carbon while making a savings of £139m on energy bills.
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, told reporters that this kind of initiative could encourage people to take the first step in making their life styles greener.
"We can avoid catastrophic climate change not by changing the quality of our lives but by changing the way we live," he said.
While the energy benefits of the bulbs are beyond doubt, the amnesty does clash with a comment by the Environment Agency in a BBC interview warning about the potential health and pollution risks associated with the bulbs, which contain a small amount of mercury.
Let us face it, folks, this is NOT just a small comment about a small amount. There seems to be an official warning in circulation that, if such a light bulb is accidentally broken that the room is to be vacated for 15 minutes. This is, I am afraid to say, not very awe inspiring as to the environmental benefits of those bulbs.
Oh, sure, the do save money as they consume less energy and in the same way also reduce pollution and such and thereby help the environment but... what about the mercury?
Asked about the unfortunate timing of the EA announcement, Mr Livingstone said: "We shouldn't get too alarmist about this. Every now and then there's a scare on mercury.
"I expect every adult of my generation is wandering round with a large amount of mercury in their fillings. 20 years have gone by and we're all still here.
"The truth is that mercury is released in the production of anything by the power plants. Much more is released into the atmosphere through the extra energy used by [non energy efficient] light bulbs."
This, to me, is rather a far too flippant reply by Ken Livingstone, London's Mayor, and one should be rather concerned about a mayor who has such an attitude. While it is true that many of us adults, especially those of a certain generation, have a mouth full of mercury fillings, mercury is dangerous, very dangerous indeed, to human (and animal) health and that is the reason that mercury is now being phased out in tooth filling, and therefore we should not be complacent about its presence in said light bulbs.
Mr. Livingstone went on to say that it was important for London's borough councils, responsible for waste management, ensure that facilities are in place to ensure the safe disposal of bulbs and make it easy for the public to use them so that doing so becomes second nature.
The safe disposal of the bulbs is but one problem, is it not. The warning, that I mentioned earlier, should be something that should concern us too.
Surely there must be a way of producing energy efficient lighting, as in light bulbs, that do not have mercury in them. We hardly here are using mercury vapor lamps, are me. So, how about it, people out there light bulb manufacturing. I am sure you can come up with something safe(r).
While B&Q is hosting the amnesty, British Gas is supplying the bulbs.
Michael Smith (Veshengro), January 9, 2007
Free low energy light bulbs for Londoners
