How to Safetly Dispose of Burnt Out CFL's

Everywhere you look there are messages to save money and go green by changing all your household light bulbs to CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps.) While that is the way to go, what they don't tell you is that those energy saving CFL bulbs contain mercury. Most importantly they should never be disposed of in a landfill.

When they are disposed of in the landfill the mercury can leak into our environment. The amount of mercury is small, about 5 milligrams, a lot less than the old mercury thermometers, but with all the bulbs sold in the U.S. alone, it really adds up.

Compact fluorescent bulbs can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescents, but they do eventually wear out. If you shouldn't put them in the trash, what should you do with them?

Take them to Home Depot. Home Depot stores across the United States and Canada accept your old CFL bulbs for recycling. Bring in your unbroken bulbs, deposit them in the orange collection containers in the store and let Home Depot do the rest.

If you live near an Ikea, they offers a take-back program. Bring in your burnt out CFL bulb and they will take the light bulbs back to recycle, at no charge. They offer recycling bins in all their Ikea retail stores.

ACE Hardware stores nationwide are accepting CFL's for recycling. They will even accept broken CFL's if you bring them in sealed in a plastic bag. Don't be discourage if you don't see obvious signs in the store, of their recycling efforts, just ask an employee. Often their bins are kept in the back and the employees will happily take the bulbs from you to recycle. Some ACE Hardware store even accept the long tube Fluorescent bulbs. ACE Hardware store are independently owned, so you might want to check your local store ahead of time, to make sure they participate.

If none of these store are in your area, check out Earth911.com. Earth911 offers the ultimate resource for any recycling need. Type in what you need to recycle, the name of your city and it will bring up all the recycling services, for that item, in your closest area.

If you prefer to dispose of your CFL bulbs from the comfort of your own home visit ThinkGreenfromHome and for a fee they will send you pre-paid packaging to your door. All you do is fill the box with your old bulbs and stick it in the mail. They will safely recycle all of them for you.

There are some local waste management services that do accept CFL bulbs. Call your local service to see if they accept them and how you can go about disposing of them safely. Also, look up your local hazardous waste facility. Most communities have them and they should take all types of CFL bulbs for recycling.