"However, CFL bulbs are not as green as many people believe. First of all they are more complicated than incandescent bulbs requiring more materials, more processing, and therefore more energy during manufacture.
Secondly, they contain electronic components - the manufacture of which requires a range of nasty chemicals, and the release into the atmosphere of dangerous heavy metals and other polution. Last and by no means least, every CFL bulb manufactured today contains not insignificant amounts of the toxic metal mercury."
from this site
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Toxic-Mercury-in-CFL-Bulbs.htm
Disposal is a big problem You are supposed to take them to specific disposal sites. Now, we can't even get people to recycle plastic bags. How are you going to keep these out of landfills? And has anyone seen the proper way to clean up a broken bulb?
scroll down to "how to clean up a broken bulb"
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partner...et_Mercury.pdf
This is from the US enviromental protection agency. Why would I want something like this in my house?? And last, but not least.......I believe the majority, if not all, cfl bulbs are imported from China. Yeah, lets import more crap from China.