TEXT OF LETTERS SEGMENT

Tess Vigeland: Starting off our letters segment this week, the unbearable lightness of compact fluorescent bulbs — at least for some of you. A story last week discussed the reasons why lots of well-meaning people won’t use CFLs.

Justin Schmidt of Spokane, Washington, says his biggest complaint is they can’t be dimmed. Well, actually they can. You’ll just have to pay around ten bucks each for dimmable CFL bulbs.

Sue Findlay hears us in Anchorage, Alaska. She points out that with half her year spent in darkness, she has to be choosy about the way she lights up her life:

Sue Findlay: The quality of light is both visually and viscerally offensive. The color of the light is the visual equivalent of running your fingernails down a blackboard.

And many of you wrote in with concerns about the mercury in CFLs. We’re working up a full story on that controversy.

Last week, we brought you the story of an eco-attraction that’s a little further afield: an elephant sanctuary that’s a big tourist draw in Thailand.

Ron Pine of Lawrence, New York, has another suggestion for making a buck off of elephants… or at least, their byproducts:

Ron Pine: When I worked for Ringling Bros Circus, they solved their similar problem. Ringling Bros. discovered that all that stuff was actually a very good fertilizer. They gathered it all and sold it in baggies under the title “Ponderous Pachyderm Poop.” It sold like hotcakes.

And finally, in a story looking at proposed rules for sovereign wealth funds, economist Matthew Slaughter was identified as being with Dartmouth “University.” That got the attention of several Big Green alums. For the record, it’s Dartmouth “College.”