In 1879 Thomas Edison Perfected The Incandescent Light Bulb After 2000+ Attempts

On December 18,2007, President George W. Bush put Edison's invention on the endangered list. The president signed the death warrant to the most notable invention of the 19th Century after 128 years of illuminating the world. Edison would be beside himself if he knew that the future would hold his greatest contribution to humanity a bad thing.

This doesn't mean that the incandescent light bulb will cease to exist, what the legislation proposes is that starting in 2012, the 100 watt light bulb will be phased out and by 2014 the 60 watt light bulb will go the way of the dodo.

What will humanity do? Well as technology has evolved, science has developed a replacement called a compact fluorescent bulb, or CFL.

This replacement uses about 75% less power than a standard light bulb and lasts 50 times longer. There are a few drawbacks to this type of replacement. They do not work well in extreme cold, and if the bulb is disposed of improperly, it has the potential to be hazardous since it requires a small drop of mercury to function. This will create its own dilemma as CFL bulbs discarded and disposed of improperly. It should be a requirement that manufacturers provide a way to recycle or reclaim the bulb so it won't end up in landfills.

To learn more, google the terms CFL, or compact fluorescent. You may also read about alternatives to incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs at http://www.greenerhomeowner.com/

This post was submitted by Ozarkmark, of http://www.greenerhomeowner.com/