Brits panic buying traditional light bulbs before stocks disappear
By Dave Parrack
Panic buying can be prompted by a number of different factors. Severe weather on the way, natural disasters, and war are all legitimate reasons to stock up. And so it seems are European initiatives to save the environment, at least where the British population is concerned.
If I was to panic buy anything it would be the bare essentials of life. You know, stuff like tinned food, bottled water, rice, potatoes, frozen vegetables etc. Oh, and of course, light bulbs. While they wouldn’t be first on my list of essentials, they clearly are top of some people’s must-haves, and they’re very particular about the type too.
Light bulbs didn’t really change a great deal for around 120 years, with the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs sufficing in lighting up people’s homes for over a century. But then came a huge change when compact fluorescent lights were introduced and offered a new lower-energy, cost-saving, environmentally-friendly alternative to the traditional bulb.
Now, in an effort to help save the environment, and consequently cut a few pennies off of people’s utility bills, the European Union has decided to ban traditional light bulbs in order to force everyone to move to the more energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs. And the British government has decided to go along with the plan.
According to The Telegraph, the EU will ban the sale of 100 watt light bulbs from September with all incandescent bulbs being banned by 2012. But retailers in the UK are already complying with a voluntary government scheme to stop selling the high-energy bulbs. Which is a good move if not slightly stinking of a 1984-style decision to enforce government policy on a supposedly free public. But it is only light bulbs after all.
But that hasn’t stopped the British public from reportedly panic-buying up stocks of the light bulbs before they disappear from shop shelves forever. Which seems slightly bizarre when you consider the amount of positive benefits provided by switching to low-energy bulbs.
Not only do they help the environment, reducing carbon dioxide by an estimated five million tons each year, they also offer benefits to consumers. Despite costing more to buy initially, the new fluorescent bulbs can last up to 12 times as long as conventional bulbs and save up to £100 ($150) each over the course of their lifetimes.
There’s nothing like us Brits to get upset over the most bizarre things. Forget the war currently going on in the Middle East, and the continuing threat of terrorism. And as for the recession, who cares, it’s only money and our jobs at stake. No, the important thing is stockpiling light bulbs, clearly.
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January 7th, 2009
I’m guessing this stems from some misconceptions about the new environmentally friendly light bulbs – I don’t know what public awareness about the new kind is like in the UK (we’re pretty happy with them here in OZ) but perhaps the UK government could help educate the populace by saying things like “buying the new kind will not blow up your light sockets, burn down your house or spy on you for Chinese radicals”.
January 8th, 2009
Dave your a idiot!!
“Which is a good move if not slightly stinking of a 1984-style decision to enforce government policy on a supposedly free public.” who exactly are you talking to with this comment- cos lass this is a standard thing for a government to do in every country in the world, including,Australia,New Zealand, U.k, all the E.U, U.s.a, And all other developed countries in the world, this isnt taking away your freedoms, (shut up Yankees,you guys have about the least freedom amoung the developed world. dont believe me ?, jump on a plane to Cuba then.), If we were all completly free, we wouldnt bother making a government would we ?,
It sounds like a Good idea.
January 8th, 2009
If the EU agrees something, by vote of the individual governments, each individual goverments is obliged to take it up unless they have an explicit opt-out (an extremely rare event); there is no “deciding to go along with it”.
Also, the notion that UK newspapers represent “public opinion” is wrong; they represent the opinions of the owner, which may be as perverse or as risible as they please. (For example, the Daily Express seemed to alternate, for years, on its front page between exaggerations about the weather, Diana, Princess of Wales conspiracy theories and varying degrees of lies about asylum seekers!) Regrettably, brilliantly presented rubbish usually trumps the facts …
Notwithstanding all that, the move is a good thing, especially with electricity prices as they are.
January 8th, 2009
And just one more thing … science coverage is generally ignorant, and ignorance plus irresponsibility forms a dangerous mixture. I can imagine the nonsense that will have been written about CFLs. I once had an unsettling (for him) encounter with the science editor of a national newspaper who, it turned out, had a history degree and had last studied science (one science – biology) at school for O-level (the examination taken at age 16 in England); I didn’t have the nerve to ask what grade he got. His general understanding was, to put it kindly, somewhat deficient, and that must have filtered through to what was eventually published!
January 9th, 2009
Maybe these stockpilers have the foresight to want to avoid all the mercury contamination in landfills that I’m sure we will be hearing about as all the CFL’s start going in the trash in a few years? Recycle (”properly dispose”) light bulbs? Yeah right, the general public is gonna do that, right alongside their recycling of batteries and inkject printer cartridges and etc.
January 10th, 2009
“(shut up Yankees,you guys have about the least freedom amoung the developed world. dont believe me ?, jump on a plane to Cuba then.)”
I can put up a TV antenna and not have my government tax them. I can buy incandescent bulbs freely and everywhere. My country didn’t produce the author of 1984. and I can be in Little Havana in 15 minutes.
Funny you should mock our relationship with Cuba:
http://www.eu-corruption.com/2008/06/20/brown-sells-uk-freedoms-to-the-cuban-government/
I’ll keep ours, thank you.
January 16th, 2009
Dave
If you’re only going to use laughable sources like the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph then don’t be surprised if you find the tales they tell are exaggerated and distorted BS, totally out-of-touch with everyday life or the majority in the UK.
Those 2 papers especially are the most right-wing & anti-EU we have.
The people in the EU want greener & cleaner Gov policies, more environmentally friendly and ecologically aware Gov.
That’s simply a fact.
We are all moving to ensure we save money, energy and make the most of the natural resources we have or that we buy.
Idiotic wastage is just not on the agenda, it costs us all too much.
Bye bye incandescent light bulbs, hello much cheaper to run energy-saving bulbs
(even more efficient LED bulbs are soon to follow).
(Christ on a bike Ken, you seriously use a site like “eu-corruption!?
Yeah, bound to be a reliable impartial and unbiased place to learn about the EU, not.)