Reply #14: Coal-fired powerstations put out far more Hg every day. [View All]

[Nihil]

Yes, people should dispose of dead CFLs in a responsible manner.
Given that the typical CFL-buyer at the moment is environmentally
smart by definition, this should also be assumed to be true.
OTOH, even if they dumped it in a landfill, the amount of mercury
released to the atmosphere is unmeasurable compared to that released
*every day* by the coal-fired power stations that are "needed" to
generate the extra energy currently being wasted on incandescents.

In other words, swapping to CFLs today will still reduce the mercury
pollution problem compared to remaining on good old filament bulbs.

(LEDs are better still but it is better to swap to CFLs now than
to keep waiting for LEDs in the future.)