Earth Day 2008!
April 22 people nationwide will be celebrating Earth Day to inspire awareness and appreciation for our planet. We here in Denver will join the celebration with two very important events:
Civic Center Park will host an Earth Day Fair to spread the green word all Earth Day long. Everyone is welcome to attend and learn more about activities going on in Denver to help save the plant.
The Denver Botanic Gardens‘ main order for Earth Day 2008 will be the kick off of the “Take 5 Pledge“! An initiative that has 5 categories and a pledge to improve each one:
Energy
I Pledge to replace 4 light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
I Can eliminate 1800 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the bulbs.
Water
I Pledge to turn off the tap when brushing my teeth.
I Can save 4 gallons of water daily.
Air
I Pledge to replace at least one car trip a month with walking, biking, or public
Transport
I Can decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 pounds.
Land
I Pledge to plant or care for a city tree by watering, mulching, and removing litter.
I Can help keep 8.6 pounds of carbon dioxide per year out of the atmosphere.
Waste
I Pledge to replace plastic shopping bags with reusable shopping bags
I Can eliminate 208 bags per year. We at the Denver Traveler have been using reusable shopping bags for the last few months and are happy to report that the Denver Public Library will launch a major initiative on July 1, 2008 eliminating the use of plastic book bags and replacing them with a reusable book bag available for purchase at a nominal price.
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POSTED IN: Events, Family Fun, Green Denver, Libraries, People - Interesting Local People, Resources
3 opinions for Earth Day 2008!
Rudy
Apr 23, 2008 at 3:04 pm
As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am less enthusiastic than most about compact fluorescent bulbs. This is due to the fact that the ones currently available contain significant amounts of mercury. If one of these bulbs should break inside of a person’s home, it could cause a challenging disposal situation. It is my belief that the technology should progress to a point at which the mercury levels are low or nonexistent before people changeover their entire homes. Another consideration is that as these bulbs burn out, they will most likely be thrown away as though they are normal rubbish and landfills will have incredibly high levels of mercury in their soil as a result.
Alicia
Apr 23, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Hi Rudy,
I did some research on the mercury levels in CFLs, and it turns out there is a extremely small amount of mercury in them. There is about 5 milligrams of mercury in a CFL, which is about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.
Special clean up (and disposal) is essential when dealing with one of these bulbs. The link above gives you a general break down as to what is needed when a CFL breaks in your house.
I, too, have worked for a light bulb distributor, and had to clean up fluorescent bulbs on more than one occasion, and I am no worse for the wear because of it (and because I took precautions when cleaning them up).
All in all, incandescents are being phased out because they burn too much precious energy.
Thanks for your comment!
Kristina Richardson
Jun 5, 2008 at 11:47 am
Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.
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