I know some people have voiced their concerns to me and to other websites about what to do with a compact fluorescent light bulb once it finally burns out…in 6-10 years. You see, the bulbs contain about 5 milligrams of mercury, which cannot be thrown away in a regular landfill, unless you enjoy having your air and your water supply tainted with the pretty red metal!

Usually your local city recycling/garbage service has a hazardous waste day a few times a year if not every weekend. A while back we had to dispose of old paint when we moved and I had to drive a trunk full of it over to the hazardous waste day in a parking lot 15 minutes form my house. They had guys there wearing big white suits to take the stuff out of my trunk and I drove away much lighter. However, if your community does not have a waste day, your local IKEA will take your bulbs back…for free.

IKEA is good like that, you see, as most of their furniture is ecologically sound, they are going to start charging you for the plastic bags at the store, and they serve $.99 cent meatballs! OK, that has nothing to do with this, but still…if you have broken/old/finished CFL light bulbs laying around that need disposal, check your local hazardous waste facility, and if that doesn’t work, look for your local IKEA. You do not need to be a customer there to recycle your CFL’s, you can just give them to them!

technorati tags: CFL, light bulbs, disposal, IKEA

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