Small Green Project - Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

I've changed our lights. I've moved almost all of our "old-fashioned" incandescent over to the "new-fangled" compact fluorescent light bulbs. They are still a little more expensive than incandescents, but wal-mart and other major retailers are selling them by the truck load and driving the prices down. Compact fluorescents as the name implies are fluorescent light bulbs similar to the bulbs commonly used in office and shop lighting. The ballast is contained in the base of the compact fluorescent and allows them to be used in traditional incandescent fixtures. They use much less electricity than incandescents and generate less heat than incandescents. The bulb here is a 13 watt compact fluorescent that has a light output similar to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. That's less than a quarter of the power required to get the same light output, now that's green. They are supposed to last longer than incandescents, and in our experience that is mostly true. I say "mostly" because I have had a couple go out. The dead bulbs were in use in our bathrooms multiple light fixtures. In our master bath we have a 6 bulb fixture and have lost 2 bulbs, and in our guest bathroom we have a 4 bulb fixture and have lost 1 bulb. I'm assuming it is the fixture and not the bulbs that are the problem, but we'll see. Other than the bathroom light fixtures all our lamps have CFL's and they have lasted a couple of years without any failures. One thing to keep in mind when you switch to a CFL is that it is considered hazardous household waste and should not be disposed of in your trash. There is a small amount of mercury in them and that requires proper disposal by dropping them off at your local hazardous waste drop off point.
Another note about CFL's is the warm up time. Inside this is not an issue, but if you want to use them in motion-activated security lights to chase away, say, deer or other critters that are dining on your plants at night, they may not be the best choice. A slow warm-up light like a CFL doesn't really have the "scare-away" potential as an incandescent instant-on light. But all in all CFL's have a place in our greener homes, and as soon as LED lights are cheap enough to replace our CFL's we won't have to think about mercury disposal.
Here are some links if you are thinking about CFL's"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp - wikipedia article
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls - energy star website

http://www.bmswd.com/hhw.htm - Where to take Household hazardous waste
http://www.co.washington.ar.us/EnvironmentalAffairs/ - Washington County Environmental Affairs & Recycling