Where to take your CFLs
Good news on the environment front! The Home Depot will now accept unbroken
consumer compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) at all locations. The service
is free and the first such offering made so widely available in this country,
according to the retail chain.
Customers can simply hand over any expired, unbroken CFLs to the clerk behind
the returns desk. The bulbs will go to an environmental management company
responsible for coordinating CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to
maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance.
According to the EPA’s Energy Star Program, if every American swapped one
incandescent bulb for a CFL, it would save enough energy to light more than
3 million homes for a year, save more than $600 million in annual energy
costs and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 800,000
cars.
CFLs contain small amounts of mercury, a toxic substance. But according to
the chief health officer at Environmental Defense, a conservation advocacy
group, the amount of mercury in a CFL is very small, only 4 to 5 milligrams.
This is almost 1,000 times less than what is in mercury thermometers.
Tags: advocacy group, annual energy, avail, bulbs, car, cars, cfl, chief health officer, compacts, compliance, conservation advocacy, containers, emissions, energy, energy costs, energy star program, environment, environmental defense, environmental management company, epa, goodness, greenhouse gases, home depot, incandescent bulb, lights, mercury, milligrams, recycle, recycling, retail chain, s, saving, savings, service, thermometers, toxic substance
September 5th, 2008 at 8:55 am
This is good news, thanks for the post! Since I consider most corporations the evil guys, it’s always good to hear about them doing good things!
kims last blog post..This is Brilliant – Using Nature as a model!
September 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I hope you don’t mind but I wrote an article on your article about fluorescent disposal. I placed a link in my article with thanks to Linda for writing it. Thanks, Dave
Daves last blog post..Follow up to "I Have Seen the Light,and it is Good!" story.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Hi Kim … I agree and them corporate guys are usually up to no good. However, I have to give Home Depot their props.
Hi Dave … I have no problem at all on how you did your post. Thank you for giving me the credit!
September 6th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
That’s good news! Every little bit helps.
Tomato Ladys last blog post..Homemade Mould & Deckle for Hand Papermaking
September 7th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Hi Linda,
Thanks for sharing where we can take our CFLs. Luckily we have a Home Depot in our area.
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Open Mic – The Need For Speed
September 7th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Cool. I’ve been looking for a recycling center for our CFLs.
Susan Helene Gottfrieds last blog post..Fiction Outtake: The Time After Dinner (The Early Days)
September 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am
[...] start with a household dilemma… where to take your old lightbulbs, Linda over at Forcedgreen tells you who, what, where and how: According to the EPA’s Energy Star [...]
September 7th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Hi Tomato Lady … you betcha
Hi Barbara … I think everyone might have one nearby. Mine is about 26 miles away! LOL
Hi Susan … Glad we could help!
September 7th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
It’s too bad they just recently closed our HD. Well I guess it’s not that bad, but I won’t go there.
Most other hardware stores will also take CFLs. Don’t be afraid to ask as I’ve often seen the boxes kept behind or under a counter. This also holds true for batteries at electronics stores.
Mike@EasyGreensys last blog post..Take Your Green Website to the Next Level
September 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
GO HOME DEPOT! Thanks for the tip, Linda. See you soon!
September 7th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hi Mike … Thanks for the tip! I did not know that other hardware stores did the same.
Hi Judy … you are welcome!
September 7th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hi Linda,
Thanks for the tip. I have a Home Depot near by.
I did an article on this topic back in April, but back then they were in the process of looking for stores to take them. I heard Walmart takes them too, but I’m not positive!
September 8th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Hi Barbara … Thanks for the extra place to take cfls.
September 26th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Hi Linda
I live in Quebec and RONA also offers a free recycling program. I am concerned about disposal of these bulbs, I work in HAZMAT disposal and consel many people on proper disposal procedures for all kind of products. What conserns me about these CFL’s is the way they are advertised, I wish stores selling them would have to indicate they are hazardous waste and were to dispose of them. They always mention the ecological factor in reducing energy costs but if everyone in Canada, the US and the world changed to CFL’s and only a small percentage didn’t dispose of them properly what would the ecological impact?
We need to get the message out that these bulbs have to be disposed of as HAZARDOUS waste and the only way I see that being done is in advertisement praysing the benefits of CFL’s
Here is a good article and some links to bulb clean-up
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp