by Shawna Bohan, Green Business Examiner

The Environmental Working Group has studied existing CFL light bulbs in depth and published a detailed report called “Lighten Up in ‘09″ showcasing some bulbs that contain a fraction of the mercury in other CFL’s and can last up to 2 to 3 times longer. 

An Environmental Working Group investigation has identified 7 bulb lines made by Earthmate, Litetronics, Sylvania, Feit, MaxLite and Philips that trump the rest.

A quick one-page summary of this report is available for download here.  A helpful cheat sheet to take to the store the next time you need to see the light. 

In case you haven’t heard of the merits of CFL bulbs, they conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants…a CFL uses 75 percent less energy than its incandescent counterpart, lasts up to 10 times longer and prevents more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Over its lifetime, a single CFL can save the consumer $80 or more, depending on local electric rates.