Letter of the Day | Ban those fluorescent bulbs, too

THE EDITOR, Madam:

T he Gleaner’s editorial, ‘Ban incandescent bulbs’, on Sunday, January 2, was on the mark when it made the case for moving to more energy-efficient lighting in Jamaica. However, a ban on incandescent lamps doesn’t go far enough. We should also ban fluorescent lighting. In years past, including during the infamous Cuban light bulb project, fluorescent lamps were promoted as an energy-efficient replacement for incandescent lamps. However, they came with significant downsides – they flicker; they take a long time to reach full brightness; they are fragile; and, most importantly, they contain toxic mercury. This is particularly concerning in Jamaica, where garbage, including fluorescent bulbs, is often disposed of in gullies and where our dumps have a long history of fires. If you’ve eaten salt fish with your ackee or just breathed the air in Kingston during one of the many fires at Riverton, some of that toxic mercury have surely entered your body. Fortunately, with the arrival of affordable and even more efficient LED bulbs, we no longer need to tolerate the downsides of toxic fluorescent.

In April 2021, the African bloc of countries submitted a proposed amendment to the Minamata Convention on Mercury that would ban the most common fluorescent lighting products by 2025. The Government of Jamaica should back this proposed amendment and join our African brothers in leading the global movement for clean, affordable, and energy-efficient lighting.

Of course, we don’t need to wait for the amendment to go into effect to get rid of those nasty fluorescent lamps here at home. We can adopt UN Environment’s recommended regulations to implement a ban on both incandescent and fluorescent lamps in the coming year, bringing much-needed savings on electricity bills to Jamaican consumers, in addition to health and environmental benefits. We ought not be content just to follow countries like Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago with a ban on incandescent; we should reclaim our traditional leadership role in the region and, indeed, the world, especially on issues like mercury and climate change, which particularly harm small island developing states like ours.

COLIN TAYLOR

Manager, Climate CLASP

Washington, DC, USA