Flourescent Confusion

Well it's another day in Lighting paradise. Another day trying to be helpful and offer guidance in the business of lighting. One of the biggest pains to deal with is how much confusion there is about the harmful effects of disposal of flourescents. Well actually it has to do with how dangerous people feel that flourescents are. Unfortunitely much of the misbeliefs that people have regarding both subjects can be attributed to the absolutely terrible job that the mass media has done on their reporting. I guess it is much easier and less expensive to draw your stories from Ap & Ip sources rather than do some real reporting. I feel that most articles that are published are of a lopsided view. Media has portrayed the problem as being much greater than it actually is. 
Flourescents and the miniscule amount of mercury that they contain are not evil! Yes, they do have mercury. A product that we all agree can be potentially dangerous if not handled and disposed of properly. The amount of pollution that is caused by their disposal verses the benefits of their usage should be more of a concern to people. By using as many as possible, there is a far greater benefit to the environment. This country's biggest producers of electricity as coal fired plants. There are far more mercury contaminates and other pollutants that are a direct result of this type of electricity production than the disposal of all the flourescents used in one year. So if looked at in a balance of life sort of way, we save our environment by using as many flourescents as possible. The more used the less the coal fired electric producers pollute. 
Recycling programs are slow in comming. Most of the ones you see are of a cost to whomever is offering them. Local politicians and activists should act resposibly and pressure the largest sellers and purchasers of flourescents to impliment recycling programs. 
Flourescents are our best option availible right now to help lower our demand for electricity. LEDs' have a few years to go before they are affordable to the average consumer and there is more standardization in their light production and color temp..
Enough about flourescents. Now how come there is not as much outrage over the use of HID lamps. There is a lot of mercury used in their production and they are very widely used. No large media stories of their harmful effects? No call to arms over starting recycling programs for all those HIDs. There are no energy saving HIDs but we sell and use a butt load of these lamps everywhere. They just get discarded into our landfills on a daily basis. Oh the travisty.
I know there could be a lot more to be said on this issue, but I've vented enough for today. I feel better knowing that I can add a few facts that most people don't know or haven't heard of before to help them understand what is a part of my daily business. Selling Lighting fixtures and bulbs. It's not just a job, It's an adventure!
With Light,  Andy