Mercury rising: The skinny on CFLs
Earth Day may have inspired you to replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)—and if it did, we’re glad to hear it. But even though you’ve got of years of light ahead of you CFLs do eventually burn out—which means you’ve got to be aware of the special precautions that must be taken when disposing of CFLs that have gone dark. The reason? In case you haven’t heard the news (or read the packaging!), all CFLs contain a small amount of mercury.
To put things in perspective, household thermometers contain around 500mg of mercury, while CFLs only contain about 4mg each. Still, if millions of future households discard burned-out CFLs by simply tossing them in the trash, the low-level hazard of these bulbs and the likelihood that they will break in landfills will become cause for concern. In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is asking stores and manufactures to provide take-back programs for burned-out bulbs. (So far, Ikea is one of the first to participate.) Local waste-collection centers will also take them, but the EPA also offers a handy online search that you can use to find out what recyling options are available in your area. In the unfortunate event that there are no local collection centers, it’s important that you double-bag and seal them before placing them in household trash.
Thinking about it, it’s a wonder that I haven’t already smacked a broom handle into one of the CFLs in my own home, but in case I ever do, I’ve bookmarked the EPA’s helpful clean-up instructions, which explain how to properly ventilate the room and safely dispose of contaminated materials.
So what’s the trade-off for having to brush up on our hazmat knowledge? CFLs emit a lot less heat than incandescent bulbs (making for less cooling costs) and they use 75 percent less electricity to emit the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs. What’s more, according to a Discovery Channel documentary, is that if everyone replaced one regular incandescent bulb with a CFL, it would be the equivalent of taking almost a million cars off the road. So take the pledge to change a light—and the world—but don’t forget to handle your new CFLs with care.
