Sustainability Of Life

Sustainability Earth is a small fraction of the never ending universe, however it is our only way of life and needs to be taken care of. Life as we know it depends on one speck in the universe and that speck can only hold so much. Many people do not think about the actions made and what effects they have on the Earth but it needs to start being a priority. Considering the fact that there is only one planet that has the ability to keep us alive, it is the job of humans to make sure Earth lasts as long as possible and is not used up. As of today, there are over seven billion people and it is estimated that Earth can only handle up to nine or ten billion (Wolchover). Earth is not a renewable resource and there is not another planet able to sustain …show more content…
Mercury is the most potent neurotoxin known to man. Meaning, there are no other known chemicals which affect your brain as drastically. And worse, mercury doesn 't break down in the body, or in the environment. It just keeps accumulating (Kroll). So not only is mercury bad for people and their health, but there is no way to get rid of it. When choosing a light bulb that is going to be all over a house, I would prefer one not streaming out with mercury. Compact fluorescent lamps will help people health wise and help the Earth by not letting out so much mercury, a greenhouse gas which increases global warming. More than 325,000 babies born each year are affected by mercury poisoning (Kroll); cutting back mercury exposure even by a little bit by switching to CFLs could help out. Of course it would take many people performing the switch before any drastic changes occur, however it is an easy step to take to help the Earth and the people living on …show more content…
The drawbacks include that the light bulb does not give off its maximum light until it is on for about two or three minutes. That can be overcome by turning the light on in the room a couple of minutes before someone needs to go in there. Another drawback was it initially costs more. But the fact is that it ends up saving you money in the long run. The bulb does cost more up front but it will last longer and save people money by not making the house warmer and causing the air conditioning to turn on and they produce more light at lower wattages. The final drawback is that the CFL light bulbs cannot be used with light dimmers. There is no way to get around that one but considering all of the good these light bulbs do, it is easy to overlook one small flaw. These minor negative side effects are easy to look past and in the end do not really matter. Overall CFLs will do more help than harm for people and the Earth; it just takes the simple step of changing the light