Recycle Your Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
You probably knew this, but I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Not owning a television adds to my general ignorance about what’s going on in the world around me.
Compact fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which is a neurotoxin and a terrible pollutant. I’ve read a lot about it. Even though they contain a small amount of mercury, they have less of an environmental impact than incandescent bulbs.
We recently replaced all our bulbs with compact fluorescents. We had no idea about the mercury content of the bulbs or that if one were to break, we needed to follow special clean-up procedures. The EPA has published guidelines about what to do if a bulb breaks in your home.
I’m unsure about were to recycle bulbs here in the UK, but in the States you can recycle your bulbs at Home Depot and Walmart.
The largest manufacturer of the bulbs, GE, makes the bulbs in China. There are some human rights issues with the making of the bulbs.
Just when I thought I was doing something good for the environment, I discover this. Maybe I should just go to bed when the sun sets and forget about light bulbs all together.
Photo by frida27ponce
Thanks for contributing this article to this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted by Karen at Write from Karen. Be sure to stop by her site on Monday, August 25, 2008, and check out the many other wonderful submissions included in this edition of the Carnival!
[...] over, let’s have a look at the submissions this week. First up is Lovelyn over at The Art of Balanced Living who encourages us to recycle our new compact fluorescent bulbs but makes a good point that [...]
Hiya
Great post - Many civic amenity sites here in the UK have places specifically for CLFs and the long fluorescent tubes that we grew up with in our kitchens and garages.
In addition, most retailers will take back your old CFLs when you buy a new one - it’s part of the WEEE directive.
Great to meet someone else who doesn’t own a tv - sometimes I feel really out of the loop too, but I think the benefits outweigh anything else
We’re moving over to LEDs now; it seems they are less toxic at the end of their life and well, the end of their life is like about 3 generations away; they just last for ever taking a fraction of the power to run them (expensive initially though)
Bed at 8pm for you tonight then?!
[...] that everyone is getting the kids/themselves ready for back to school and college? Lovelyn presents Recycle Your Compact Fluorescent Bulbs posted at The Art of Balanced Living. Lovelyn comments in her article about learning of the mercury [...]
@ Mrs Green,
Thanks for the info. It’s good to know where to recycle my CFL’s once they burn out. I’ll look into LED’s. I haven’t heard of them before.
I’ll have to keep going to bed earlier and earlier. Someone just told me that in the winter the sun goes down at about 4:)
The more things change, the more they remain the same! Remember the old debate about what was better, paper bags or plastic?
I don’t have a television, either. Puts a lot more time in my day.
G.