Light the Way

We spent this afternoon stringing lights outside of our home to give it a festive look. While outside I replaced all of the burned-out bulbs in our exterior lights. These were some of the last to still have incandescent bulbs in them. Luckily, we’d recently stocked up on multi-packs of General Electric “Energy Smart” compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL), which come as a five-pack in a cardboard box, so I had enough bulbs on hand to make all of the necessary replacements.

It was during a recent trip to Home Depot when we’d done this stocking up of CFLs, and, while at the store, I couldn’t help but keep thinking about a green contradiction someone had pointed out to me.

In our post-”Inconvenient Truth” world, it seems like nearly every company is doing its part to promote a green message. Whether it’s switching to packages made of post-consumer content recycled materials or creating energy-efficient appliances, you can’t turn on the television, flip open a magazine or walk down a store aisle without seeing those infamous “chasing arrows” or the Energy Star label. Don’t get me wrong–this is all good, and I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m thrilled that so many companies are embracing the green trend. I know that I’ve become a more conscious consumer in what I buy, and often how something is packaged will be the one factor that makes me put a product into my shopping cart or place it back on the shelf.

Which brings me back to my light bulb shopping at Home Depot and that green contradiction. Why is it that all of these “green” light bulbs are packaged in environmentally unfriendly packaging? Have you noticed the same? Even the “Energy Smart” bulbs that I bought are sold this way, when you buy the bulbs individually. That was one of the reasons we chose the cardboard multi-pack.

In the old days light bulbs came packaged in in a light, cardboard-like paper, which was easily recyclable. These days, CFLs come sealed in those evil, PVC-plastic “clam shell” packaging–that rigid container that’s great for displaying products on a store shelf but which is terrible for the environment (made from chemicals, and it’s not universally accepted for recycling with other plastic goods). What’s worse is opening these packages. A nick from a plastic clam shell makes paper cuts seem like a walk in the park. (No wonder some genius came up with a clam shell-opening tool!)

But really, there has got to be a better container for selling CFLs. I mean, even Target is doing away with its PVC packaging in the electronics department, and obviously GE (in which company I do not have a financial interest, FYI) has figured out a way to package its CFL multi-packs in cardboard–I’ve got the proof right here next to my laptop. So when are the other light bulb companies going to have their light bulb moment?

As it is, CFLs cost more upfront than incandescent bulbs, which may dissuade some consumers from purchasing them in the first place (though Wal-Mart is using its influence to convince light bulb suppliers to make CFLs more affordable for the average Joe). But if consumers have to wrestle with a clam shell package just to get out a light bulb–and wrestling is not an understatement since some folks have broken bulbs in the process–then where is the incentive to do the right light bulb thing?

It will be a glorious day when these light bulb companies can fully embrace their product’s “green-ess” and sell it in a recyclable container.