Went to the Home Depot today to pick up a metric butt-load of mulch for the yard. Apparently, it's Earth Week or some other feel good crap and they were giving out a free CFL to everyone heading in the store.
Let me be clear on my view of CFLs – They suck. We have one in my daughter's room and it takes a few minutes to really kick in, has an awful flicker, the color is abhorrent, and then it's nowhere near bright enough to do much more than make you squint. Sure, it's going to last 100 years, but the added medical costs from stepping on crap that you can't see isn't worth it.
So when I plugged in this Ecosmart light bulb into the lamp on my desk, I was wholly shocked that it not only came on instantly, but the light was just as bright as the old 60w bulb and the exact same color. It has a slight flicker to it, so that's still something they need to fix before I go buying them wholesale and replacing every bulb in the house.
I'm thrilled to see a CFL that works as good as a regular bulb. I have no problem buying them in this case since they will save me money. I just replaced the crappy one in my daughter's room with it and, now the only thing is the proper disposal of the old CFL.
I'm thinking of heading out to a swamp wetland preserve and crushing it over a baby eagle's nest or something.