What do I do with this?!

by James on September 27, 2008

We’re all aware that compact fluorescent bulbs save energy and save money. It is less widely known that they should be recycled.

The Home Depot has established a national recycling program for compact fluorescent bulbs, cell phones, and old batteries. I checked it out this afternoon at The Home Depot at 3700 University in West Des Moines, and they make it easy. Just inside the main entrance they keep a cardboard box at the return desk. Place the worn out bulbs in the box, and you’re on your way. The alternative is to drive out to the Metro Waste Authority Regional Collection Center; it’s near Bondurant. See my earlier post. It’s very likely that you will find The Home Depot stores a lot closer to home. They are located all over the Metro. You’ll find some of the the local Home Depots at

The reason that the bulbs should be recycled is that compact fluorescent bulbs sometimes called CFLs contain a small amount of mercury (4 to 5 mg). It would take about 1000 CFLs for enough mercury to weigh as much as a nickel. While that is not a lot of mercury, mercury is toxic and capable of significant environmental harm. As a nation we have been pretty successful in having the money saving, energy efficient CFLs widely used but less successful in recycling them.

A chemist or toxicologist might tell you that mercury (whose chemical symbol is Hg) is a neurotoxin and that the damage accumulates. Mercury is a liquid metal. (Yes, it’s the same stuff that many of us played with when we found it as kids, and that turns out to be not such a good idea.) If the CFLs are discarded in the trash, the mercury will accumulate in the landfill with the potential to enter the air, land, the rivers, and the water supply. It is a lot easier and cheaper to recycle the bulbs now than to clean up the mess in the landfill later. Recycle ‘em.

photos by Jim Lindberg

Tagged as: CFL, compact fluorescent bulbs, Home Depot, mercury, recycling

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