Slap Me Some Green

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. The Good and The Bad

THE GOOD:
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs or CFL's are quickly becoming the bulb of choice for many consumers.  These bulbs have a tremendous benefit in our personal lives in terms of cutting our energy costs and using less carbon based fuels to produce our electricity.

These bulbs produce the same amount of light as traditional incandescent bulbs, but they last 10 times longer and can save your $40 or more in electricity costs over its life time.

For the best results when using these bulbs use them in fixtures that allow airflow.  These would include hanging lambs, table lambs and floor lamps.  They also provide the greatest energy savings when they are used in fixtures that will be used for 15 minutes or more.  For example, your basement closet that you peep your head in and out of for 1 minute every 3 weeks would not be a good candidate for CFL's.

THE BAD
These bulbs contain MERCURY.  Mercury is very dangerous to humans and our environment.  Check out below what the CDC says about the dangers of Mercury to Humans:

"The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury. Methylmercury and metallic mercury vapors are more harmful than other forms, because more mercury in these forms reaches the brain. Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic, or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Effects on brain functioning may result in irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing, and memory problems."

Based on the recommendations of the EPA What Do do When a Fluorescent Bulb Breaks:

1.  Before You Can Clean Up the Broken Glass You Must Air Out The Room:

• Immediately have people and pets leave the room.  Do so without walking through the broken bulb area.
• Open all Windows
• Stay out of the House for 15 Minutes
• Power Off all air conditioning and heating systems.

2.  Steps for Cleaning up Hard Surfaces

• Use thin cardboard or stiff paper to carefully scoop up the broken glass pieces and powder. Place these fragments in a jar with a metal lid or a sealed plastic bag.
• Use a damp paper towel or disposable wipe to wipe down the remaining area
• Do not use a vacuum or broom on hard surfaces to clean up broken CFLS

3.  Steps for Cleaning Up on Carpeting or Rugs

• Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with a metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Next use a sticky, durable tape such as duct tape to pick up any small remaining pieces of fragments and powder
• If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
• Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

4.  Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials

• If your clothing, sheets or any other soft cloth materials come in direct contact with the broken glass or mercury containing powder, dispose of the material immediately in a plastic bag or jar with a metal lid.  Do not wash these materials because the mercury fragments may contaminate your washing machine and/or pollute the sewage system.
• If the clothing, sheets or any other soft cloth materials come in indirect contain with the broken glass or mercury containing powder, you may machine wash those materials.
• If your shoes come into direct contact with the glass or mercury containing powder wipe the soles with a damp paper towel and dispose of the towel in a plastic seal-able bag.

5.  Disposal of Clean up Materials

• Place all clean-up materials in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup
• Wash Hands immediately after disposing of clean-up materials.
• Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

6.  Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming

• Before you vacuum, shut off air conditioning and heating.
• Open all windows.
• Keep off systems off and windows open for 15 minutes

SLAP ME SOME VERDICT
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs can be a temporary solution for our energy problems.  However, they can be a long term problem for our environment.

If you choose to use CFL's, use with caution and use responsibly.  You can save a little money, but you can also damage the health of your family and planet.

If you are worried about CFL's, begin looking and researching for LED lighting.  It is a low watt alternative without the side effects of CFL's

Packaging Those Holiday Gifts? Reuseable Packing Materials

Guess What?  Have you heard the news?  Christmas is Only 94 Days Away! The Holiday Season is fast approaching!

Have you thought about gifts this year?  Did you already purchase any?

Now the big Question for this Article:
Are you Going to Mail Any of them?

Chances are you will be mailing a few packages this year and in the coming years.  You may already own a business that ships packages everyday or work for one who does.

Let us at Slap Me Some Green.com offer you a challenge.

It is a very simple one, and it will actually save you money all the while helping protect the environment.

When you ship any gift or merchandise you have to pad it with something for protection.  Your choices generally are Styrofoam peanuts, quick inflatable disposable air pillows or rolls of brown packing paper.  All of which you have to purchase and then they end up in a landfill.  Who knows how long the Styrofoam and plastic pillows will last in the landfill?  At least the paper will breakdown over time.

But you can still do better!  You can do better for yourself, your business or your work.  More importantly, you can do better for the Earth!

Every time you use one of the 3 packaging methods listed about, you are basically paying money to throw those items away.  Packaging in a shipment is literally throwing cash in the trash.

We have all heard the saying reduce, reuse, recycle.  Well, what we are about to propose covers all 3 of those areas.

We challenge all readers and supporters of Slap Me Some Green to instead of buying packaging materials, use YESTERDAYS NEWSPAPERS FOR YOUR PACKAGING.

1.  REDUCE - It will reduce the amount of packaging materials people and businesses will have to buy in order to ship their products.  (Reduce also means -- CUTS COSTS!)

2.  REUSE - Instead of the newspaper being recycled or ending in the trash can, it is being reused one more time.  Because you are reusing newspaper instead of package peanuts, you cutting back on the amount of packaging materials people throw away

3. RECYCLE - Once customers receive the packaging they can recycle it.  They can also recycle the cardboard box it came in.  (Unlike Styrofoam peanuts or plastic air pillows)  For businesses this is huge.  You can market that you packaging is 100% recyclable.

FOR BUSINESSES: Encourage your employees, you customers, and YOURSELF to bring newspaper into the shipment department and use old newspapers for your packaging.  Offer discounts or incentives.

FOR PERSONAL USE:  Save money on packaging supplies.  (We've seen the prices when you only buy one box and padding at a time --OUCH) 

The most important thing to remember here, is that you are reusing a product you were going to throw out or recycle.  You gave it one more purpose before it was disposed of.

Reusable Shopping Bags

So many of us are now using reusable shopping bags for our grocery shopping.  Often these shopping bags are made out of Canvas, Burlap, Hemp, Nylon and/or combinations of other recycled products.

We can all agree that this is a much better alternative to plastic bags.  Most of those bags end up in the trash or being used for trash bags.

Even if you did not care about where your plastic shopping bags will end up, you can not deny the one feature that the reusable bags have over the store's plastic bags:  DURABILITY! 

How many times have you been almost to your front door when the handle rips, the bottom blows out or a product rips down the side of bag?  Far too many.  With a reusable bag, you get comfort handles and nearly indestructible construction.

Grocery Shopping is not the only time you are offered plastic bags.  Think of all the places where you are offered the convenience of a store's plastic bags and make an effort to not use them or to bring your own reusable bag.

SHOE STORES:  Carry the box instead of opting for a bag.
CLOTHES STORES:  Designate certain reusable bags for non-food items.
DEPARTMENT STORES:  Some offer gigantic over sized bags.  If you are just putting one item into a bag consider carrying it. 
CONVENIENCE STORES/FAST FOOD:  We recommend NO BAGS from either of these two places.  These bags have the shortest life span.  You almost always take the items out of the bag immediately and then never use the bag again.  They go right into the trash.

SUMMARY:
While plastic bags do offer short term conveniences, they also offer LONG TERM PROBLEMS.  So please, do your part to cut back and even eliminate your use of plastic shopping bags.  Companies will continue to manufacture plastic bags as long as consumers use them.  Do you part and help reduce our consumption of plastic bags on bag at a time.

Welcome to Slap Me Some Green!

We are rolling!  This is your link to finding all kinds of tips and tricks that will not only help save the environment, but will also help save you money.

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