We jumped happily onto the bandwagon of being green and saving money at the same time with enthusiasm because we live on Cape Cod. The Cape has extremely high electric costs; second only to Hawaii. Even though our tiny, 800-something square foot house is all natural gas (cooking, heating, hot water), our electric bill is usually quite a bit higher than our gas bill. Even in the winter! We replaced the refrigerator with an EnergyStar model, but no joy. We even had a new electric meter installed thinking it may have been old and rusted. The electric bill was still insane. Next we replaced all the incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs. There was no difference in the light bill, but we thought it was the right thing to do because that’s what we were led to believe.

One winter’s night we ran a short errand, so we left a light on in the kitchen. When we came home, the kitchen was full of smoke and noxious fumes. We were gagging and our eyes were watering, so we opened all the doors and windows and started searching for the source of the problem. There were sparks shooting from the light we had left on in the kitchen, even though the kitchen was dark, so I turned that wall switch off and took the glass cover off the light fixture. There was a white power, or dust-like substance billowing out and it burned my throat and nostrils horribly! I had to run outside to be able to breathe. After the dust settled a bit, I went back to unscrew the burned out remnants of the CFL bulb and took some photos of it after placing a paper towel on the kitchen counter to prevent mercury contamination. Although I had already inhaled God-knows-what from the noxious fumes…

I did some Internet research and discovered that the UL numbers on this bulb were fake. This bulb was not UL listed! It was a forgery. I emailed EnergyStar with the following on January 9, 2010:

“We returned home to find the smell of something burning in our kitchen and the light was out, even though we had left it on because it was going to be dark when we returned. This bulb is between 10 to 13 months old and was mounted horizontally in a typical kitchen light fixture. It was not on a dimmer switch or in a recessed fixture. The glass globe (see attached photo) fits loosely. It’s a hanging-type cover that is held in place by tightening three screws.

The base was extremely hot and had changed color from white to what you see in the photos.

It’s a Sylvania 13W 60Hz 175mA (see photos). It was used indoors on the ceiling over our kitchen sink and counters.

The fumes were horrible and caustic. My sinuses and throat were burning. This happened over two hours ago and my throat is still burning.

I will also contact Sylvania about this, but I noticed your logo on the package the bulbs came in, so I looked up your email address to let you know about this danger. It’s a good thing we came home before a fire started!”

EnergyStar replied with the following:

“I am very sorry to hear of your unfortunate experience with a CFL.  Thank you for sending us detailed pictures of the bulb, as it is very helpful in identifying the model number and the type of failure.  We are committed to continue to do our best to document and attempt to resolve these issues with manufacturers to reduce instances of defects in the future.

Unfortunately, there have been some instances of CFLs smoking or smoldering. While this usually occurs when the product is defective, or installed improperly it is nonetheless a concern to consumers, EPA and DOE. Currently, the Department of Energy (DOE) is working with industry to make sure this phenomenon is eliminated by requiring all ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs to incorporate end-of-life requirements and higher safety standards. ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs meet UL safety standards (I bolded this), which require the materials to be self-extinguishing. So, although the base or glass tubing may darken, an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL should never catch on fire.

In some cases, when a CFL reaches it end of useful life, the arc contained in the tube may elevate the temperature of the housing plastic near one end of the tube. This elevated temperature, although it is short lived, may produce some limited smoke and odor from the electronics and fire-retardant cover. In some cases a flashing arc internal to the fluorescent tube or ballast may occur and in some extreme cases, a deformation, significant distortion, or small breach of the plastic material may happen. Again, the materials and evaluation tests are designed to prevent subsequent safety hazard. The plastic housing is designed to self-extinguish, and it is the nature of fire retardant materials to exhibit some deformation or discoloration when acting in protective mode.

Manufacturers producing ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs are required to offer at least a 2 year limited warranty (covering manufacturer defects) for residential applications. In some cases, the manufacturer may request the failed product to be shipped to them so they can determine why the smoking happened, so make sure to keep the product until you speak to the manufacturer. The manufacturer will most likely provide a replacement product
or a refund.

I will catalogue this incident in our database.  Please know if and when you hear a response from Sylvania.  Just for reference, the model number you should give to them is CF13EL/MINITWIST.

Thank you for contacting ENERGY STAR.”

More research turned up this information on the UL website:

UL warns of potentially hazardous compact fluorescent lamps

Northbrook, Ill. USA, August 11, 2009 — Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is notifying consumers and retailers that the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), identified below, may pose a shock and fire hazard. This product does not comply with UL’s safety requirements and is not eligible to bear the UL Mark.

Name of product: Bright Effects Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Units: Unknown quantity

Manufacturer: Zhejiang Yankon Group Co, Ltd., Zhejiang, China

Date of manufacture: Units manufactured on and prior to July 2007

Hazard: The lamp may overheat and melt the enclosure, exposing live parts and creating a shock and fire hazard.

Identification: On the product:

E137657

Self-ballasted Lamp
5K53

13W 120V 60Hz  190mA
CF13EL/MINISPIRAL Y728-1

The site is on a networked server that I access via a shortcut on my Windows desktop. The shortcut address looks something like this \\XXX002m. The solution to the problem was to map a network drive letter to that server and then relink Dreamweaver to the site using the drive letter.

Mapping the networked drive:
1. Click on Start and open My Documents
2. Click Tools > Map Network Drive
3. In the window that opens, choose an unused drive letter (one that doesn’t have anything next to it).
4. Click Browse and locate your website on the network.
5. Click on the folder your website is located in, check the “reconnect at login” checkbox, and then click OK.
6. Make a note of the letter you picked so you don’t forget it and click Finish.

Connecting the site to Dreamweaver:
1. Open a page of your website in Dreamweaver.
2. On the menu bar click Site > Manage Sites.
3. Select your site and click Edit…
4. Under the Advanced tab click on the folder to the right of Local root folder and navigate to the location of your site by going to your desktop > My Computer.
5. Select the drive letter you chose previously and navigate to your site.
6. You will get an error message about the images folder not being there. Ignore this message because in the next step you will fix this.
7. Click on the folder to the right of Default images folder: and navigate to the folder your website images are saved in.

Dreamweaver will rebuild the cache automatically and your library items should update when you click Modify > Library > Update Pages…

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 small box frozen chopped spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (1 pound) tomatoes
2 cans (6 ounces each) of tomato paste
2 cups water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper sauce (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
8 ounces lasagna noodles (whole grain)
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

In large, heavy saucepan, lightly brown beef and onion in oil. Drain fat. Add tomatoes, paste, water, parsley, salt, sugar, garlic powder, pepper, oregano, and spinach. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles as directed. Drain, but don’t rinse. In a 13x9x2 Pyrex baking dish, spread enough sauce to cover the bottom. Alternate layers of sauce, lasagna noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes until light brown and bubbly. Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Cut into squares to serve. YUM!

That’s what we had for dinner tonight and leftovers can be microwaved for the rest of the week.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Yoko Ono Lennon, May 4th, 2010
We are gathering here this evening with one concern all of us have. What can we do to stop Hiroshima and Nagasaki from being repeated again to destroy the lives on this planet? This time, it will not be two cities. It will be the world.

It seems the choices we have are either to blow up the planet with all its lives, or stay alive maimed, and slowly die from cancer or other unpronounceable ailments we don’t have the cure for yet. Of course, there is another choice. A good one, the one we are all hoping for. But it’s up to us to do something about it. There is no big powers we can count on.

The governments of the world owe their very existence to the backing of powerful corporations, so, sadly, their initial allegiance will have to be to the corporations, not to the people.

Remember Mad Cow disease? It was covered up for ten years in the United Kingdom, while people were dying from it and not knowing why. At the midst of it, a minister demonstrated on TV to show how it was safe for him and his son to eat beef. This was made as a strong gesture of assurance to the people! People were in a shock, watching that program on TV, still not wanting to believe that a minister of a powerful position may have to comply to the wishes of corporations even at the risk of endangering people’s lives – and in this case, his son’s. Yes. All of us are good at burying our heads in the sand.

I’ve read a very interesting article a few years ago by Michael Fitzgerald called Militarism:

Fitzgerald spoke of being the son of a working class Navy man, and has realized how millions of Americans depended on the permanent war economy for their livelihoods – not limited to people in the military, but people who worked as defense contractors and their employees. “A person cannot be elected to be the President of the country, unless they are supported and voted by the military and defense Industries,” he says. Therefore, “if the President does not take the nation to war, he will not be able to stay President.” The article refers to the fact that Lyndon Johnson said, privately, he feared impeachment if he pulled out of Vietnam. Well, that’s a hell of a statement. If some people immediately wished to bury their heads in the sand again, I understood why.

Most recently, last week, to be exact, the State of Arizona shocked the world by announcing a new law, which seemed predictablly, to point to a very grave future of this country, and for the people who are still holding on to the American dream. The American dream once was a dream for all world citizens. And this announcement from Arizona confirmed the worst to us. John Cory immediately hit back with a strong article called “STORY IN SIX WORDS.” . He mentioned that there was a legend that a colleague once bet Hemingway he could not write a story in ten words or less. Hemingway used six: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.” John Cory wrote his own six words at the end of his article: “For sale – By owner – American Dream.”

But, when it was at the darkest, something incredible happened. Our dream was not over yet! It took such a sad situation for people of America to stand up. But we did.

An ocean of people protested Arizona’s new law on May Day in every American city right after the law was announced. One light, a big one, was lit in the world of darkness. Now we know where we are going – towards the light, together. No more burying our heads in the sand!

In such a historical moment, it is very important that the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki be brought up again as a reminder of what can happen to the world if we forget, and fall back to the world of darkness.

Mayors of the World, Thank you for being here in this room, at this very historical moment in America, to encourage and inspire all of us – that we can do it! What the big power of the government can’t do, we can. We of this planet are still in our embryonic stage. But with your efforts and the strong wishes of the people of the world, I know we can and we will create a peaceful world for ourselves and for this planet.

One day, not too far in the future, we will see ourselves living peacefully and having fun together on this planet without War. Let’s look forward to that day and start working intelligently, to make it happen. Clearly, if the whole world stood up and spoke out for World Peace, we’ll get it.

Please pass my message to the people of your towns and the cities – I say to them that we can do it. We can do it together. With your help, with the help of the mayors of the world, our voice will be made still stronger. We are the Family of Peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you again, for your wisdom and courage to speak out as the Mayors of the World. You are opening the door to many professional people who will learn from your stand.

Let’s all stay well till we achieve World Peace.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Yoko Ono Lennon
May 2010, new york city.