Podcast: Disposing of Fluorescent Bulbs

"Hey Mr. Green: I know the Sierra Club supports replacing incandescent bulbs with efficient fluorescents, but those contain mercury, which is highly toxic, and shouldn't be thrown away. So what am I supposed to do with my dead fluorescent bulbs?"

Click here to listen to the answer!

Comments

[user]

Besides sending me to an audio file for the asnwers- how about a printed/typed answer for people at public terminals with no audio

[carole]

This was useless info and took way too much time. It did not tell us anything not readily available. My local public services don't accept household hazardous waste material: duh.

[Christiana Drapkin]

Ditto. I can read an update in less than a minute. Why sit around and wait for loading, buffering, talktalktalk. That's more about self-advertising than giving info. Please keep things short and to the point. Thank you.

[Tracy]

I'll save you the time. All that he said was to check earth911.org to see where to recycle them.

[sara]

I agree with carole: let's see a quick answer that we can use.
I have no hazardous waste disposal close to my municipality either. So, it looks like I am better off with incandescents because at least I can dispose of them safely. Which is worse for the environment; the thousands of flourescents being disposed of unsafely or the incandescents? This is the dilemma most of us are in today.
Hmmmmmmmmm

[Diane Stalter]

Places of I know that you can take your flourescent bulbs so that will recycle them:
Ikea in Laurel, MD
Home Depot in Silver Spring, MD
Amicus (green store) in Kensington, MD
Diane
P.S. I've set up a box in our office loungewith a notice so that people can drop their off there & I take them once a month to the nearest above store.

[Mary M]

Way to go, Diane! Your post shows what a creative person you are and how willing to step forward in your life, find places to recycle the cfl's, and offer your time and efforts to help others do the right thing! You've inspired me to do the same!

[serena]

Mine had no sound using Windows Media Player.
What about recycling the old incandescent bulbs?

[cdg]

a waste of time.

[Magda]

How about asking friends around?
I don't have place myself but the town where I work does and I ask a friend who lives there to recycle them for me.
If you find a town close by you can just drive it yourself. No
one checks if you live there anyway. I have done it in about 5 different towns that I don't live.
Big ovations for Per Agryl, PA for disposing all plastics up to number 7 on them.Most towns do only up to number 3.

[Liz Angell]

I do not want to listen to the answer from Mr. Green. Couldn't you have a choice of audio or written?
Thanks.

[Fran Caffee]

Check with your "Helpful Hardware Man". Ace Hardware in my area Aurora IL will recycly CFL's and I am willing to bet most of their other stores. It was a very small notice in one of their mailers about 6 weeks ago. Also our County Monthly Electronic Recycle Days will accept them. fran

[EAR]

The comments were far more informative than the audio...I can barely hear what it says, and it IS a waste of time.

[Louise White]

I agree this was annoying - just give the information directly. I confess I am still confused.

[Jeanne S. Langridge]

When I have to recycle things I am not sure of I check the phone book "Green pages" in our area of california , the actually publish a book with names, address and phone numbers of recycle places and list what they take. I believe it is available online as well.

[Barb Gillespie]

Our church Green Team recycles CFL's for the congregation, taking them monthly to our local True Value Hardware Store, where the owner saves us the cost we'd have accrued at our bi-annual hazardous waste collection. The hardware store also helped us sell the bulbs at church this fall at .99 each, so our congregation is now well into energy efficient lighting.

[Marianna Handler]

I agree with the writers who do not want your answer via audio. I can't get it on my old computer, and it takes forever trying to download it.

[ann heffner]

i have an old computer, which still works well except for streaming video and radio broadcasts.
i still read pretty well too....for an old lady.
how about a printed version for us old folks with old equipment?

[Michele C.]

Does anyone else agree that retailers who profit by selling items...whatever those items may be...should be required by law to "take back" the used items they sell for recycling? Whether they be light bulbs, batteries, containers for mayonnaise, tires, motor oil, etc.

In some communites, it is just too difficult to recycle toxic items...and the more difficult it is to do something, the less it gets done. It would be convenient if everyone could simply return these items to the retailers who sell them.

Also, the recent news about pharmaceuticals being in our drinking water--I'm sure much of that is from people dumping the old meds down the toilet, when they should have returned them to the pharmacy. (I believe most pharmacies accept old Rx's for disposal).

It just seems that companies profiting, without taking the responsibility for the items they profit from after they're used is an unfair profit margin for which we all pay, by toxic dumping polluting our environment and affecting the health of all living things on the planet.

[user5]

The amount of mercury in a CFL is less than the amount of mercury used in producing an incandescent light bulb, so while it is very important to recycle them, CFLs are still environmentally better than incandescents.

[Jim G]

I totally agree with you Michele! Many European countries require manufacturers to be responsible for their products from cradle to grave. We desperatly need the same requirements here in the US, since we are the world's largest consumers and will soon be surrounded by toxic watse dumps. Until then, we the Citizens, must encourage our local, state and federal gov's to either begin, step up(or even susidize), widescale recycling efforts to help keep toxins out of our environment. Our quality of life depends on it.

[Christina]

Does anyone know where I can take dead fluorescent bulbs if I live in Charlotte, North Carolina?

[Jim Groves]

In Maryland, the local IKEA store takes them as well as My Organic Market. If nothing else, get a box and put them in there until the recycling become more prominent. Also, the amount of mercury is very small - about the same about as the tip of a ball point pen. Compare that to an old thermometer that had 100 times the amount!

Remember that the amount of mercury that is not produced by the coal plants due to the low energy of these bulbs far surpasses any environmental hazard of having mercury in the bulbs. Check out the website above, some great links to articles and other sites about CFL's.

[Ann Schneider]

Hi:

The Sierra Club encourages the purchase of the least toxic CFLs and from manufacturers that support taking back their products for recycling rather than expecting local governments to pick up the cost of recycling. Del Norte County in California estimates it costs $8,000 a ton to recycle those bulbs so the cost of recycling needs to be built into the price of the product or it isn't sustainable.

Ann Schneider
Chair, Sierra Club
Zero Waste Committee.
http://www.sierraclub.org/cfl/

[warren whiteram]

What a waste of time, energy, and talent. Is Sierra Club stupid or what? Print out hints. No need to do audio. At least give an option. This present system sucks.