[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by johnr

what about the mercury in those new bulbs. no there isn't alot in one ,but what happens when we all start throwing them out.

Here is a document that discusses the mercury content in compact fluorescent bulbs. Less mercury is actually attributed to the use of a CFB than the equivalent use of standard incandescent bulbs over the same time period. Turns out coal-fired generating plants produce mercury as a byproduct of the process:

http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf

This document also suggests how to properly dispose of CFB's.