While the matriarch of the house was out I enticed the remaining three pups into the kitchen for a photo shoot. Even though the little pissers scramble to get in every time I open the back door they were very hesitant when invited in, as is usual with pups but it is funny watching em check and sniff.

The smaller reddish female still has a temper when picked up, though she is starting to get used to it after me giving her some extra care and a talking to. It is amazing how those little tails make such a racket when brushing any hard object, they go all out all the time.

In short order they started to become ‘more comfortable’ with the surroundings so it was time to say arrivederci.

Many moons ago I became a fan of CFLs [compact fluorescent lamps] buying several while on holiday in the south.

Those lamps lasted for years so the purchase prise was returned and I felt good playing my little part in protecting the environment.

Fast forward to today and things are not looking so rosy in the EP front vis a vis CFLs. For one the modern lamps that are available here do not last anywhere near the length of time advertised. And they are not cheap either, anywhere from 5 to 9 dollars or so [though I will have to do a check on that].

And what piss’s me off more is the half dozen CFLs that NL hydro distributed to any household who wanted them lasted no time at all. Some of those are in the box pictured.

So here I have 11 spent CFLs, and not having a safe way to dispose of them. With Fran doing a cleaning out project I thought it time to do some investigating on how to safely dispose of CFL’s. Plus there were several others that either broke or were inadvertently thrown away

No easy task in a northern remote community in the most environmentally unfriendly province in the country, a country who is behind the 8 ball in most things environmental.

TBC.

Continuing right along;

So I sent an inquiring e mail to NL Hydro and received an automated reply telling me some one will get back to me inside 5 business days with a response.

I then phone the council office and the was told that the people there would get back to me, which one did but then had to speak to the other person and then would get back to me.

They didn’t but I phoned back and spoke to the person concerned but there was no knowledge that end of how to handle CFLs both new and burnt out.

It was mentioned that any CFLs that council had installed were taken out as one caught on fire, this happened to be one of the free lamps from Hydro.

I sense the attitude at council is along the lines of the three wise monkeys, and who can blame them when there is no leadership coming down from the province and no bottom up kafuffle.

Not being deterred I then did a search of the provincial dept of environment web site and took a punt on one of the contact names.

Lo and behold I had a reply within hours; I luck out with the right person. Included was information I had already research [but they did not know that] plus some discouraging news such as “The Department does not have specific legislation for CFL bulbs” and “But the disposal of waste dangerous goods/hazardous waste (mercury) is mentioned in our Environmental Protection Act. The Federal Government (Environment Canada) is in the process of developing legislation for the management of mercury in bulbs. This will deal with collection/transportation/disposal and recycling of Mercury from these bulbs” and “There is a wealth of information out there with regards to the management of this type of waste. This waste should be management appropriately as a HW so to prevent impacts to the environment/health” and “This waste can be collected at a Household Hazardous Waste Day ( contact MMSB for the next date) .The nearest area may be Happy Valley GB” and “In the near future various stores may be participating in a take back program for this type of waste. You could check with your municipal government and see if they are aware of any programs”.

All very good information but not much use to anyone in the province with used CFLs with nothing in place is it to handle, store dispose or recycle is it? And who in their right mind is going to pay over 800 bucks to fly to Goose bay to recycle a few CFLs ?

Which reminds me about the big brouhaha about recycling batteries from some years back: While talking to council I asked “do they still take spent batteries”. I was told they have not for some time and anyway all they did was take the collected batteries to the dump and bury them in a designated spot.

This sort of worries me somewhat as our dump or waste disposal sight is at the food of shear cliffs at a narrow point of land sloping down to the water of a small bay. Leaching of all these and other contaminants has to be a problem.

Bottom line is that mercury, as well as CFLs in general are recognized as a health issue but again the three monkey syndrome plays a big role by all levels of government.

Perhaps I could contact the NG as they just passed Environmental protection legislation. Then again one can only hit ones head up against so many brick walls at one time.