These energy saving light bulbs contain mercury and have to be disposed of in specially designated recycling places, and I doubt if many councils have one. Also if one breaks, the advice is to open all windows, while the pieces are collected. As for lasting for years, I have had one break and one fail within 2 months. Also the light given by a 100watt equivalent is dangerous on a stairway, as by the time the light becomes brighter, you are already down the stairs in the dull light. Furthermore, they don't work in dimmer switches, it is necessary to buy ones which cost between �12 and �17. None of these bulbs give sufficient light to read by. There's a big discussion going on at present, regarding people who suffer from migraine or epilepsy. Other people have said that the constant flickering makes them feel ill. There are also campaigns underway to obtain exemption for such people. A case in point is I tried to do my bit, and installed eco-friendly light bulbs throughout the house at considerable expense, which have now been all removed and replaced with traditional bulbs. Apart from being ugly I feel they definitely don't live up to the hype, I'm not at all happy that they contain mercury vapour, which has already been banned from use in many applications. The final straw being, that I have a cat which is on life-time medication for epilepsy, which was well controlled until the introduction to the house of these eco-bulbs, when his epileptic seizures increased in frequency and severity. Following the bulbs removal and reverting to normal bulbs, the level of seizures returned to the original controlled condition. The question is, if it causes a reaction like that in a cat, what will it do to humans. I am purchasing as many traditional bulbs as I can before they disappear for good. Perhaps we'll all end up using LCD lanterns, oil lamps or candles. :-)