Many of us have replaced the incandescent bulbs in our lights with higher efficiency compact fluorescents (CFLs). Last night the question came up, “what to do when they burn out?”
While CFLs for your home are not legally considered hazardous waste according to federal solid waste rules, it is still best for the environment to keep them out of our landfills. Treat them like you would batteries or motor oil and deliver them to the Household Hazardous Waste Center at the Astatula landfill–or catch the mobile unit as it bops around the community picking such stuff up (2008 mobile schedule).
Most of you know that CFLs contain mercury, which is unhealthy stuff to snort or use as hand lotion. However the amount contained is pretty small, about 4-5 mgs. Still, if you break one, you want to exercise some caution. The EPA recommends that you:
- Immediately open windows to reduce risk from mercury vapors in your home.
- Do not touch the spilled mercury.
- Clean up the broken CFL glass carefully and immediately (but not with your hands or a vacuum cleaner.
- Wipe the area with a damp paper towel to remove all glass fragments and mercury.
- Seal any paper towels and fragments in a plastic bag and deliver it to the Household Hazardous Waste site.
And something else to consider…
Because they are so energy efficient, requiring far less consumption than their incandescent counterparts, CFL bulbs go a long way towards reducing potential mercury pollution from the single largest U.S. source: coal-fired power plants.
