Shed some light on green bulbs

BESET by a failed light bulb in the bathroom during the night, I replaced it. During this task the tubed, eco-friendly bulb was broken, so that I had plastic-glass fragments to remove etc.

With fears about mercury in this kind of bulb I wrapped it in newspaper and put it in a small indoor waste bin. Taking no chances, I replaced it with an old-fashioned light bulb.

First thing in the morning, I checked out the workings of these bulbs and their safe disposal etc. What really irks me is that these bulbs are designated eco-friendly and yet disposal and handling of them entails safety precautions that hardly seem compatible with designating them eco-friendly. How can items that are a threat to landfill dumping, because of their mercury constituent, possibly be designated user-friendly? I await en(light)enment.

Ian Johnstone, Peterhead