Too often, I still hear people say they haven’t switched to compact fluorescent bulbs yet — with the excuse that CFL bulbs contain mercury and are therefore bad for the environment. To that, I respond that more mercury’s put into the environment by coal-burning plants creating the extra energy needed for “regular bulbs.”
Plus, CFL bulbs can be recycled properly, so that the mercury in them can be kept from polluting the atmosphere. Here’s where you can take your eco-friendly bulbs at the end of their long lives:
Drop them off at Home Depot or IKEA. Both chain stores will let you put your spent CFL bulbs into a recycling box for proper disposal. Combine your recycling trip with a shopping trip at those stores — and you’ll incur no extra carbon emissions from the trip!
Take them your local hazardous or e-waste center. Research your city’s hazardous and e-waste program to find out where you can drop of CFLs — and other chemical-filled old electronics too. I do, however, suggest you try Home Depot and IKEA first. Those companies will take on the cost of recycling CFLs themselves, while city programs will have to use up your taxes to undertake this task.
Mail them in. Perhaps the most unpopular item in the BlogHer Conference shwag bag last year was the CFL Recycling Kit — which make me think this option won’t be popular with BlogHer members. Still, it’s an option, so here are the details.
For $16.95, you can order this kit, which is basically a mail-in box that can hold up to 13 CFL bulbs. On the surface this mail-in deal sounds kind of convenient — except if you consider the fact that a CFL bulb usually lasts 7+ years. Waiting for 13 of them to burn out while storing the box in an easy-to-find spot sounds like a decades-long endeavor.
Sure, you could mail in just one bulb — but $16.95′s a rather hefty price to pay. Plus, mailing in just one bulb would vastly increase the carbon footprint of this recycling method. Still, if you’re an agoraphobic person who’s somehow already amassed a dozen or so burnt-out CFL bulbs, the mail-in option could work for you.
If push comes to shove, do check earth911.com and recycleabulb.com‘s easy recycling facility locators before putting your old CFL in the trash. Though honestly, I’ve had CFLs since the late 90s — and haven’t had one give out yet! So I’ve yet to try out any of these methods. If you have, though, do weigh in in the comments.
Images via nema.org and amazon.com
My original bulbs are still going strong (except for cases when they’ve gotten broken). Newer bulbs have burned out. That said, taking bulbs to Ikea was pretty simple (we were there a couple weeks back). They also take batteries although the battery bin was overflowing when we dropped off our recyclables.
Comment by Don Hosek — February 7, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
I use CFLs, but I do try to warn their staunch cheerleaders about the mercury content. I’ll be much happier when standard LED bulbs are more widely available and come down in price.
Comment by Jody — February 7, 2009 @ 5:05 pm
I accidentally flicked a light switch the other day and my boyfriend thought the bulb in the kitchen had burned out when he saw it. That bulb’s been in there 6 months! Even with an incandescent bulb, I’d be mad if it burned out! I have yet to have a CFL burn out, but I’ve only been using them 2 or 3 years. I also moved in July and replaced almost all the bulbs in the new apartment with CFLs (overhead lights in every room of a 2 bedroom + formal dining room apartment).
Perhaps the next generation of CFLs won’t have mercury. I know they are planning on having bulbs that will work with dimmer switches, which would be great for the dimmer in my bathroom! (Yeah, I don’t know why there’s a dimmer in my bathroom either.) Also, they really have saved me a lot on my electric bill.
Comment by Meredith — February 7, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
I find it weird that the mail in kits were not popular at blogher. From all the crap in that blogher bag, I was thrilled to get that kit. That and the bag itself were probably the most useful things about the swag.
Comment by nonlineargirl — February 7, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
I wish you’d talk about LED lights. Turn in your CFLs and your incandescents too, of course, and buy LEDs. They’ve come down in price a lot. I get mine at http://www.eaglelight.com or http://www.ledinsider.com which seem to have the best prices on the web. Both offer full money-back guarantees on all their bulbs so you have nothing to lose and should try them.
I’ve tried a lot of different LED lights to replace my CFLs and incandescents. My favorites are the PAR20 LED, the 36 LED VIVID C.Crane bulb, the Pharox, which is a fantastic replacement bulb because it looks just like a regular light bulb and has a soft, warm glow to the light.
I’ve been trying the PAR30 and PAR38 LED bulbs to replace my brighter bulbs. They’re still more expensive than I want to pay.
The VIVID 36 LED bulb is less than $10 on eaglelight.
The Pharox varies in price. I get it at eaglelight for only $36 – less than anywhere else on the web that I’ve found.
Good luck with your LEDs and please share any LEDs that you try and like.
Comment by Ellie — February 7, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
I have switched to all CFL bulbs for now and plan on using LED bulbs for our office rehab. Ace hardware also recycles the bulbs, just ask the cashier.
Comment by Robert Stockham — February 8, 2009 @ 6:28 am
For all the people who’ve had early burnout issues with CFLs — Make sure you’re buying quality CFLs with 7-year guarantees! You gotta get your money’s worth in this economy :)
More about LEDs later.
Comment by Siel — February 9, 2009 @ 6:43 pm
Why CFL mercury is worse than Coal Power mercury
Great recycling advice there, people should think more about that.
However, CFL mercury is a bigger problem than coal power mercury…
Why?
Coal power mercury was only ever a problem where untreated coal was used, and dominated.
That diagram you have is if ALL power from coal, and from coal that has not been treated…not true for any state…
The same diagram in context:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp#Mercury_emissions
Emissions can now easily be treated, with new injection and photochemical techniques as well as so-called wet scrubbers (and of course has also long been possible by coal gasification).
Not only that, emissions will drastically fall in the next few years, as EPA themselves maintain:
2005 decision, 90% power station mercury emission reduction by 2018, (phase 1 = 21% reduction by 2010, phase 2 = 69% further reduction by 2018) , confirmed by new administrator Lisa Jackson.
For more see http://ceolas.net/#li198x
In a nutshell:
1. We know where the ever decreasing local coal power stations chimneys are and we can treat their emissions with ever increasing efficiency at lower costs.
2. Compare that with billions of scattered broken lights on dump sites, when we do not know where the broken lights will be, and so we can’t do anything about them.
(Deposit-refund or free collection schemes would be a good idea, but have not prevented most CFLs in Europe being thrown away with other household waste)
Anyway, good to think about the environment whatever way you do it!
Comment by lighhouse10 — July 31, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
hello again (Siel)
just saw your comment
“Make sure you’re buying quality CFLs with 7-year guarantees!”
– Have you seen any of them?
I’ve been trying to see if they are available in any country with such long warranties..
http://ceolas.net/#li15lsx
Energy Star have max 2 year requirement
see more here:
http://energystar.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/energystar.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=2575&p_created=1148316847
“Manufacturers producing ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs are required to offer at least a 2-year limited warranty (covering manufacturer defects) for residential applications…. save your receipts to document the date of purchase.”
“In addition, the ENERGY STAR program monitors all CFL early failures. Please bring product failures to our attention by e-mailing us at cfl@energystar.gov, be sure to include the manufacturer’s name and product model number.”
Comment by lighhouse10 — July 31, 2009 @ 1:31 pm