Are regular light bulbs or fluorescent bulbs worse for the environment?

On the one hand, fluorescent bulbs contain toxic materials that can be released when the bulb is dumped. On the other hand, fluorescent bulbs last so much longer than do regular, or incandescent, bulbs that this problem is minimised.

More importanlty, fluorescent bulbs use only about one-fifth the electricity of incandescent bulbs, thus helping us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and therefore slow down global warming. Since global warming is by far the greatest environmental danger we face, fluorescent bulbs must be better for the environment.