A Blue Peter style appeal... I need your used gocco bulbs!

UPDATE: Sad news: the gocco bulb appeal is no more. After a couple of tip offs about the bulbs toxicity, I did some research and discovered the used bulbs are apparently pretty toxic. Some people mentioned pretty scary side effects, like causing birth defects in unborn children etc. I was planning to turn these into Christmas baubles, and I really can't think of anything more horrific than a toxic bauble - contamination is not the gift you hope for when you gather round the tree! I don't know how serious the toxic risk really is but I couldn't carry on with my plan in good conscience once I knew that those sort of side effects were a possibility. Sigh... This makes me feel even worse about sending them off to landfill... But thank you very much for the great response and support - makes me want to devise another (non-toxic) appeal!

used gocco bulbs

Originally uploaded by alison wonderlandQ

Are you a gocco user? Do you recognise the tragic beauty of these short lived orbs who, like the mayfly, perform their sole function on earth, only to become obsolete and die moments afterwards? Do you hoard your used bulbs, hoping that they could be destined for greater things than merely to become landfill? You do? Then this appeal is for you! I am looking for used gocco bulbs, to upcycle into objects to be treasured. I repeat: USED gocco bulbs, bulbs that have flashed their flash, bulbs that can no longer serve a useful purpose in the world of printing, bulbs that would otherwise be destined for the bin.

My plan is this: everybody who sends me some gocco bulbs will get a special gift in return. This gift will comprise of something I have printed on my own gocco (it may be a print, a card, a notebook or... something else!) as well as a selection of other little surprise items to make the parcel super fun to receive! And the more bulbs you send, the more super duper fun I will squeeze into your return package. If you take part, it means you will be helping me, helping the environment and getting a real treat for yourself in return! Everyone's a winner, right?

If you have any used gocco bulbs that you would like to donate to the cause, please email me (you can click on the little link in my profile) or leave me a comment with your email address here. I will get in touch, and give you all the necessary details.

p.s. If you have a blog/twitter/facebook/flickr/whatever, I would really appreciate it if you could help to spread the word about this bulb appeal - thanks! :)

p.p.s. Look out for a super duper Blue Peter style bulb-o-meter appearing to the right hand side over there! I shouldn't make it today as I have a job interview to prepare for and some important errands to run so... Who am I kidding? I will be working on it today for sure!

UPDATE: Sad news: the gocco bulb appeal is no more. After a couple of tip offs about the bulbs toxicity, I did some research and discovered the used bulbs are apparently pretty toxic. Some people mentioned pretty scary side effects, like causing birth defects in unborn children etc. I was planning to turn these into Christmas baubles, and I really can't think of anything more horrific than a toxic bauble - contamination is not the gift you hope for when you gather round the tree! I don't know how serious the toxic risk really is but I couldn't carry on with my plan in good conscience once I knew that those sort of side effects were a possibility. Sigh... This makes me feel even worse about sending them off to landfill... But thank you very much for the great response and support - makes me want to devise another (non-toxic) appeal!