I took some to a local Lowes Hardware a few weeks ago and was informed that "they don't accept them any more."

Why not? Because it costs the store some hundreds of dollars PER VISIT for an EPA toxic disposal crew to come out for every thirty pounds or so of CFLs to be recycled!

Put 'em in a Zip-Loc, put that Zip-Loc into another one and then toss it in your trash.

Stupidity squared...

That is true Democracy: the majority screw the minority.

After workers at Shlitz Beer (Milwaukee, WI and at one time the largest brewery in the world) struck for the 3rd time in 5 years in the 1970's the owning family shut the brewery down. A popular beer today is made in what was once Shlitz's state-of-art brewing plant in upstate NY.

"Productivity kills jobs!!!" That's how unions think. Interesting that successful small companies that make great productivity improvements as they grow never fire workers in net. Numbskulls cannot wrap there head around that. The GE plant with better processes may have grown and grown but we won't know now.

GE has been one of Obama's favorites. If they really wanted to stay in the US, they would. They are looking for an excuse to move production, and had moved in that direction before the election.
The UN and Obama want CFLs. No, they did not study them well, Pelosi ramrodded the legislation through. A report from the Federation of German Engineers warns of an electrical smog around the CFLs when on, and advises keeping the heard at a distance from the lights. Among gases being put out by the lit bulbs, discounting the obvious mercury, are phenol, naphthalene and styrene.
In Britain, they are taken to the Ministry of Light Bulbs, or some such name. Once everyone here is stuck with them, can you imagine it will be free to dispose of something that pollutes? Look for the cost to be passed on, and likely not cheap, to get rid of the things.

Hmmm. Will this eventually turn out like Hostess? Bought out by a foreign concern and retooled anyway? And all those concessions in place anyway. When will labor learn that it is not always going to be their way? The highway is going to be the more prevalent answer from business. And the new improved "green" bulbs? Crap based on faulty science pushed by an agenda that boils down to control, like what toilet you can have, how much water you can use, what size soda you can buy, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and the cost? Hey kids! We can buy bread or light bulbs, but not both this week!

That ain't a reason, friend. Any time there is a vote, folks try to persuade you to vote one way or the other. They have to give reasons to persuade you--though I guess giving money or blackmailing folks has also been part of the "reasoning." If the union wanted to close the plant, what reasons did they give for folks to vote their way?

These bulbs are Made in the USA, and due to their heavier filaments last seemingly forever.

I used to replace the ones in my garage ceiling every 6 months, but the 'rough service' ones I last installed are still burning bright after over three years....

I'm confused, folks. What reasons did the union give for not accepting the agreement that the plant made? Does anyone here actually *know*?

What a joke, union brotherhood. Same thing happened here in my hometown with several large businesses, they shut down the plants for the same reasons.

http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-...
Link from the EPA

Get your incandescent non-polluting light bulbs now!

There is a loophole in the ban, and that is for "rough service" bulbs.

Here is a manufacturer that makes, and ships, all the banned bulbs legal
http://www.newcandescent.com/