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Editor's ViewpointMeditations Of A Minnesota Mossback |
Learning Something New Every Day
A week ago, we celebrated our firstborn's graduation from the University of Minnesota.
As the line of over 500 Institute of Technology graduates threaded down the aisle of Northrop Auditorium toward the stage, a number of personal memories unwound: young anxieties over daily timed multiplication tests (those second-grade "Mad Minutes"), spelling practice sessions, and lovely fall field trips to the apple orchard.
There are moments when I'm convinced that the 22 years leading up to this point constituted, indeed, just a "Mad Minute." Where did they go?
I never "walked" after my college graduation, but that Friday night at Northrop more than made up for it. Extended families waited in the lobby for seats so they could cheer for their graduate. It was a raucous, and joyful, occasion.
These are students who have worked very hard to learn how to learn. Many of them will return to their countries of origin, bringing knowledge and purpose to places that need innovative ideas - and hope for the future.
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We should learn something new every day.
Over the past few years, I've learned that the lowly wetland serves a lofty purpose, and is more complex than I ever imagined. That goes for the Louisiana bayou, too.
I'm also learning to beware of the eco-fad, and to mull over the questions that don't get asked, when government poses the "simple solution."
For example, I ran across my mercury thermometer the other day. Yup, I'm hoarding one. They can no longer be found on pharmacy shelves in Minnesota: the mercury (about 500 milligrams each), if released, is bad for the environment.
I store it in the same cupboard as those new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). You know, the bulbs that cost an arm and a leg, but save a ton of energy? The bulbs that contain mercury and are considered hazardous waste?
We have always recycled our fluorescent bulbs, so it was no stretch to earmark those pigtail-shaped CFL's for the box headed to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. In my search for a hazardous waste warning label on the (environmentally unfriendly) heavy-duty plastic packaging, however, I was surprised: there isn't one.
In small print, the label simply says: "Lamp contains mercury. Manage in Accord [sic] with Disposal Laws."
No kidding! Did you know that the US Environmental Protection Agency publishes guidelines on the specific steps you should take to clean up a broken CFL in your home? We are advised not to use our bare hands - or the vacuum cleaner.
The Twin Cities Green Guide [www.thegreenguide.org] quotes the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance in a warning against the environmental effects of fossil fuels, suggesting that homeowners switch to CFL's.
The same website targets mercury as a hazardous material, warning that it may "pollute the water or air," when mixed with municipal solid waste.
I find it interesting that the government has banned mercury thermometers but is actively encouraging mercury-laden fluorescents. Apparently, the EPA has done some calculations and concluded that we're better off taking risks with mercury accumulation through the municipal waste stream than seeing it belch from power plants. I'll bet they made some assumptions.
Has anyone tracked the hazardous waste recycle compliance rate for CFL's lately? I hope those EPA estimates didn't assume that those individuals who chuck their beer cans, cigarette butts and carpet remnants into roadside ditches will be squeaky clean when it comes to the disposal of CFL's.
Personally, I don't regard 4-5 mg. of elemental mercury per bulb as negligible. One thermometer equals 100 bulbs. We might have 100 light bulbs in our home, but we never needed more than one thermometer. Furthermore, we tested CFL's in our porch light last winter. California can have them: they simply don't work in the cold.
I tend to agree with freelancer Craig Westover. The Pioneer Press recently published his opinion piece ["On light-bulb mania, facts and consequences," Thursday, May 10, 2007].
Westover's take on CFL's: "We have a bunch of social activists with an agenda and corporate concerns looking for government to give them a market edge by pushing a solution without having thought through the consequences."
The old proverb tells us to "light a candle against the darkness." If it's not paraffin-based, I might. Candles are starting to sound more eco-friendly all the time.
Deb Barnes, a civil engineer, former city council member, and mother of four, enjoys weighing in on technology, politics and human nature. A true-born mossback, she hails from Washington State.