Energy Saving Products: Are They Worth It?...

[ChefChiTown]

For those who don't know, Germany is banning old-fashioned lightbulbs and is forcing people to buy newer, more "energy efficient" fluorescent bulbs instead.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2009/09/08/pleitgen.germany.bulb.boom.cnn

In the US, they are already in the works of putting a similar ban on old-fashioned bulbs, forcing it's citizens to purchase fluorescent bulbs instead. Obviously, they are hoping to conserve energy (as the older style bulbs wasted more energy than newer ones), but has anyone stopped to think if "energy efficient" and "energy saving" products are truly conserving energy in the long run?

These types of products have been labeled as "Eco-Friendly", but...are they?

Has anyone stopped to think about the reality of pushing these products upon the world? For example...

Has anyone realized that, in order to create these so-called "energy conserving" products, it's going to take a HELL OF A LOT of energy to produce them? Is the hypocrisy and the irony of this so hard to see? Because, I don't think it is.

If we are truly concerned about the environment, and this just isn't another way for governments to force people to spend money and boost their economy, then why don't we work on Eco-Friendly and "energy efficient" manufacturing plants that contain more effective production lines? After all, that's where all of these products are being made, so why not start at the source?

:dunno:

Why isn't anyone stepping up to the plate and questioning this whole Going Green movement? It's hypocritical and, let's be honest, it's not going to make a difference anyway. So, why are we (as regular citizens) allowing this horseshit to be forced upon us?

I saw a woman walking out of Taco Bell the other day, carrying a plastic bag full of food and a plastic cup full of soda, wearing a "Save The Earth" t-shirt and I couldn't help but laugh at her blatant hypocrisy. I feel the same way when I see things on the news like the light bulb ban in Germany; I laugh at the hypocrisy and overall stupidity of the people who are pushing this bullshit upon our societies.

These "energy saving" products, for the most part, don't already exist in mass quantities (at least in such a quantity that they are readily available to every single person). So, they need to be made. And, in order to make these "energy saving" products, it's going to take energy to be able to produce them; A LOT of energy. So, how exactly are we conserving energy by using a light bulb that was made in a factory that wastes more energy than all of it's Eco-Friendly products are saving?



Seriously, I can't be the only person that sees how hilariously hypocritical (and pointless) this movement is.

 

[Baill Inneraora]

I recently bought a battery operated jack off hand. It saves a lot of my energy and is the best investment ever!

 

[busenbust]

A friend of mine has said that in the United Kingdom many people are stocking up on the old-style fluorescent light-bulbs before they get 'out-lawed'. I don't actually mind them; they are certainly more durable than the old-style; they can take or knock - or two.

 

[Ozmanks]

Those "energy efficient" light bulbs are crap. They take way too long to warm up to provide any light and on top of that they contain mercury. Also those shower heads are b.s., what governments have failed to realize is that competition creates better products. If we only have a few suppliers of energy efficient light bulbs, then they'll get complacent and never improve upon their products.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Disposable items like light bulbs which last longer and use less energy are a good idea.Saving money and energy always a good idea.


But you wanna watch this lets not upgrade attitude Chef before you get branded an anti-capitalist communist or something.

Think about this ,light bulbs which need to be replaced when they burn out are one thing.But how many perfectly good TV's (old style analog ones),VCR's,DVD players (not blu ray) are being tossed into the trash every day.LOTS!!!!! But thats progress american style ,gotta throw out the old shit to make way for the new.Other people in the world think that is an appealing way to live as well (and damn if it isn't fun).Thats why ultimatley we can get all the new lightbulbs,and other trendy little eco-friendly stuff but are still are so very screwed.

 

[ChefChiTown]

Disposable items like light bulbs which last longer and use less energy are a good idea.Saving money and energy always a good idea.


But you wanna watch this lets not upgrade attitude Chef before you get branded an anti-capitalist communist or something.

Think about this ,light bulbs which need to be replaced when they burn out are one thing.But how many perfectly good TV's (old style analog ones),VCR's,DVD players (not blu ray) are being tossed into the trash every day.LOTS!!!!! But thats progress american style ,gotta throw out the old shit to make way for the new.Other people in the world think that is an appealing way to live as well (and damn if it isn't fun).Thats why ultimatley we can get all the new lightbulbs,and other trendy little eco-friendly stuff but are still are so very screwed.

Once again, in order to make all of this new "energy saving" product, we're going to have to use a shit load of energy to make it. So, is the trade off even worth it?

And, you're right about having to replace light bulbs anyway. But, these new "energy saving" light bulbs are going to work the same exact way, so energy is going to be constantly used to make more and more replacements. So, where exactly would we be conserving energy? I mean, unless we take all of the old light bulbs, assemble them into one giant pile, set them all on fire and use the flames to fuel a steam powered factory to make the new "energy efficient" bulbs, instead of using up even more energy to make the new products, I don't see where we are really conserving energy at all.

 

[JakeSnake]

:dunno:.

 

[D-rock]

Once again, in order to make all of this new "energy saving" product, we're going to have to use a shit load of energy to make it. So, is the trade off even worth it?

And, you're right about having to replace light bulbs anyway. But, these new "energy saving" light bulbs are going to work the same exact way, so energy is going to be constantly used to make more and more replacements. So, where exactly would we be conserving energy? I mean, unless we take all of the old light bulbs, assemble them into one giant pile, set them all on fire and use the flames to fuel a steam powered factory to make the new "energy efficient" bulbs, instead of using up even more energy to make the new products, I don't see where we are really conserving energy at all.

Unless making the new light bulbs takes more energy to create than the old ones and the savings in energy it takes to run them doesn't make up for it then in there will be a total energy saving, and probably a savings in cost also. Remember that those old light bulbs are going to have to be replaced no matter what.

I just wish they would come up with the new ones that can be turned on and off quickly without wearing them down. In that way they are less durable than an incandescent light bulb.

 

[nothingandless]

i didn't read all the posts, except the 1st. id also like to make clear that many people also don't consider the cost of disposal. going "green" is expensive, to both consumer and country, but who cares about them, they're one and the same.

business is cold and cruel, unfortunately. whats worse is that if greed wasn't an inherent human trait, these issues would never see light.

 

[Facetious]

they take way too long to warm up to provide any light and on top of that they contain mercury.

:eek: :eek:HAZMAT !!! CLOSE THE STORE !! CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT .... 911 !:eek:



I went to Big Lots and got tons of conventional bulbs for about $1 per 4.... get 'em while ya can. :hatsoff:

The worst trick ever played on us by these frauds was / is the low flow toilet that you either have to plunge or flush 2 or three times to get it to work.

Dicks !!

 

[jod0565]

I don't even recycle.
Mercury clean up if a new bulb breaks should be fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7czKngCUASM

 

[STDiva]

It's probably not saving any energy on a national scale, but if the $$$ on my bills is lower because of some new light bulbs, than I'm down.

I put mercury on my cereal. I used to sniff that shit in high school.

 

[tittenman]

I recently bought a battery operated jack off hand. It saves a lot of my energy and is the best investment ever!

Ha ha nice one, any energy saving of that kind most welocme.

A friend of mine has said that in the United Kingdom many people are stocking up on the old-style fluorescent light-bulbs before they get 'out-lawed'. I don't actually mind them; they are certainly more durable than the old-style; they can take or knock - or two.

Yes thats most true, probably the same set of people were campainging for gas lamps when electrification was starting to be implemented.


But on a more serious note I am all for saving energy which if in turn saves money (which it usually does!). What governments need to actively do is to encourage people to buy these energy saving items by perhaps providing some sort of enticement to buy them ie a rebate of some kind. When you either financially penalize someone for being inefficient and reward someone for being efficient only then can you start to change the mind set and perhaps bring about some sort of revolution.

 

[Cutie]

I have the bulbs, and they save alot of money for me.

 

[JacknCoke]

This is interesting it was taken from the Worldnetdaily.com by Joseph Farah

The rap against the incandescent is that it uses more energy to produce light. Advocates of CFLs say they save money and energy by producing more light over more time for less money and less energy. They prefer to minimize concerns about cleanup and disposal, usually saying more needs to be done in the area of recycling.

But recycling experts say the solutions are at least five years away. Meanwhile, millions of consumers and green activists are being persuaded to make the switch.

"EPA currently doesn't provide a unified message to the public on what to do with fluorescent lamps once they are no longer used," admits a draft announcing plans for a pilot project by the agency.

Yet, the EPA's Energy Star program is one of the major forces behind the push for CFLs.

"Currently the need to recycle mercury in fluorescent lamps isn't mentioned on the Energy Star web page although they are working with the Office of Solid Waste to address this," the memo continues. "This may create confusion to the public about doing the right thing."

In fact, even the memo doesn't advise what the public should do.

This was taken from farther up the article. This part of the article was a story about a women who had one break in her 7 yera old daughters room and called multiple agencies trying to figure out a disposal method. I only posted this part because I disagree with Al Gore completely and I also think hes a crook...

She has continued to call public officials for help – her two U.S. senators included. So far, no one is beating down Bridges' door to help – not even Al Gore, whose Academy Award-winning movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," urges everyone to change to CFLs to save the planet from global warming.

 

[Spleen]

The words "FUCK" and "NO" come to mind.

 

[tartanterrier]

Just another keeping up with the jones's gimmick to con you
out of more money

 

[Jagger69]

Not sure about the German light-bulb mandate but I can tell you for certain that the industry I work in is going green big-time....but not because it's good for the environment and just-plain the right thing to do. Instead, it is a public-relations feeding frenzy that is as phony as a fucking 3-dollar bill. Just imagine....suddenly it is a great idea for these companies to appear to actually be concerned about ecological issues when, in all reality, their interest lies in another kind of "green". Amazing how some companies can go from not giving a squirt of piss about the environment to being "green"....as long as it can be profitable.

Just like everything else good that happens, opportunistic and greedy assholes find a way to ruin it.