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If you're the sort of person who reads articles like this, you probably think pretty much everyone knows about CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs) by now.
Think again. Despite widespread availability and dramatically lower prices -- name brand CFL bulbs go for about two dollars these days -- CFL adoption in the United States remains around 6 percent. The rate is much higher in Europe and parts of Asia. Still, in the largest single consumer market in the world, CFL awareness remains in single digits. Contrast this with a recent survey suggesting up to 34 percent of all Americans believe in UFOs.
Mercury in CFLs
It's not unreasonable to think that even fewer people know CFLs contain mercury. A small amount, sure: the National Electrical Manufacturers Association recently capped 25 watt CFLs at 5 milligrams per bulb. But as adoption rates rise, so does the importance of sending CFLs to a recycler, rather than the landfill.
Herein lies the problem. While retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot have exhibited environmental leadership by bringing CFLs to market, they've been far less forthcoming in taking them back. CFLs can last three to five years under normal use, which means the vast majority of bulbs ever sold are still in service. By 2010, however, The U.S. could be looking at 80 to 100 million improperly disposed CFLs annually if people don't know any better and convenient recycling isn't available. That would represent an intolerable toxic burden to our current methods of waste disposal.
CFL Recycling Options
A issue of this size won't be solved by individual action alone. But if each of us take the initiative to identify our local CFL recycling options now, we can start the process of educating friends and family before their efficient new CFLs are ready for disposal. Want to give it a try? Here are a few places to check:
Your Local Garbage Service
Probably the best place to start is with whoever currently picks up your household trash or recyclables. If you pay for this service, you'll almost certainly find a customer service number on your bill. Give them a call and ask if they offer CFL or mercury recycling. If not, politely suggest they do so. Here's an opportunity to write a letter, attend a meeting, or take some other activist role in highlighting the importance of proper CFL disposal. The appropriate follow-up will depend on whether your trash service is privately or publicly held.
Municipal Government
Whether or not local trash service is provided by a private contractor, your local municipality (city, county, or parish) is ultimately responsible for waste disposal.
Most phone directories have a "blue pages" directory of local government agencies. Try the listing for sanitation services. While curbside recycling is by no means universal, your area may have designated drop-off locations or periodic CFL collections. Should your local agency not have any CFL-specific provisions, ask about safe disposal of mercury or fluorescent tubes.
Retailers
Unless you bought CFLs from Ikea, one of the first major vendors to offer a free take-back program, you're probably going to get some blank stares when you ask the manager of your local store about CFL recycling. It's worth the effort, though: retailers need to know their customers want safe disposal of the good they purchase. If you bought your CFLs from Wal-Mart, consider contacting their corporate headquarters and asking that they establish a company wide CFL return program.
 Earth 911
Earth 911 is probably the United States and Canada's largest online clearinghouse of recycling information. Visit their site and enter "CFL" and your Zip code in the "Find a Recycling Center" field at the top of each page. Alternately, try "mercury" and "fluorescent bulbs." If there's something in your region, it will almost certainly be listed. Earth 911 is currently attempting to expand its coverage to Europe, the first step toward an international registry of recycling options.
Commercial Services
There are a variety of for-profit companies which provide CFL and fluorescent bulb disposal by mail. Failing a local option, these firms represent a responsible and environmentally friendly channel for CFL recycling. Lightbulbrecycling.com, for instance, will send you a handy, postage-paid plastic pail which will accommodate about 30 CFLs -- more than most homes will use in many years. Just drop your spent CFLs in their well-engineered pail, and call FedEx for pick-up. The downside is that the service is quite expensive: about $120 per shipment. At today's prices, this almost triples the unit price of your CFL. On the other hand, with the energy you'll save with each bulb, you're still ahead of the game. You'll also know for sure that your CFLs are being recycled in a safe fashion.
What If All Else Fails?
If none of these options are available to you, there's a backup plan: storage.
As their name suggests, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs don't take up much room. Unless they're broken or otherwise damaged, CFLs will hold their mercury more-or-less indefinitely. Rather than disposing of them with household trash, simply store expended CFLs until recycling is available in your area. A 5-gallon PVC bucket with sealable top can be scrounged from most construction sites or purchased new for less than ten dollars. It should safely contain a couple dozen bulbs. A sturdy cardboard box lined with a heavy plastic garbage bag should also do the trick. Just place your CFL storage container out of harm's way so it won't be dropped, crushed, or otherwise disturbed.
Spread the Word
Once you've located CFL recycling near to home, let people know. Offer to take other people's worn-out CFLs when you recycle your own; organize drop-off programs with churches, clubs, and civic groups; and get the word out about the necessity of safe CFL recycling.
Using less than 30 percent of the power required for a conventional bulb, CFLs represent a tremendous opportunity for energy savings. But they also require special handling if we'd like to keep them from becoming an environmental problem of their own. Feel free to reprint this article in any way. Email it to friends. Be part of the solution.
For information on the proper purchase and selection of CFLs, see the Complete Guide to Living with CFLs.
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Readers have left 13 comments. 1. Important Recycling Info
weee, Guest Thank you for another great post. 2. Mercury
Guest, Guest There's a flaw about your thoughts on the mercury in CFLs. The mercury gets absorbed into the phosphor on the inside wall of the bulb. This is what causes CFLs to burn out. When you have a CFL that burnt out, it has no more available mercury. 3. What about Europe
Guest, Guest How about some resources for Europeans? 4. Or there is the smarter option
Guest, Guest I know we are all supposed to be getting on this bandwgon with CFL's but let's face it-they are limited and have some serious drawbacks. I work in the lighting industry and I can say with complete confidence that the major manufacturers are using CFL lamps as a stopgap solution until LED lamps become feasible. In the mean time just install a dimmer. That was you will save energy, extend your lamp life beyond what a CFL can do, mount horizontally or upside down without shortening the lamp life, have aesthetic options, and not risk your kids future with a rising level of mercury in landfills. Because let's face it-I live in one of the more green aware states there is (CA) and there are not many CFL recycling options available yet. So we all know that the mob will take the path of least resistance, which is the family garbage can. So yes, we must be aware of CFL's, but we must be aware of their limitations as well. 5. Recycling? Are you kidding me?
Otto, Guest These things have to be recycled too? Are you kidding me?
I bought a couple of them for my living room a while back. They're not bright, the color is harsh, the flickering is bad on my eyes, and they don't dim with my normal dimmer switches.
And now you're telling me that they have to be treated specially?
Yeah, that's the last time I ever buy a CFL, ever. I'll go with bulbs that actually work correctly, thanks. 6. Thanks!
Pedro, Guest Great tips, now I know what to do about that burned-out bulb I have sitting in a kitchen drawer.
And for all the complaints about the light CFLs shed, it's true that some make you want to backlight an X-ray, but I've bought my share of warm, natural-looking ones (from Ikea, no less). For general lighting, no one has ever recoiled in horror when stopping by for a visit.
My furniture is another story... 7. Comment roundup
Chris Baskind, Super Administrator Los of great comments, thank you. I'll hit a few:
> I can say with complete confidence that the major manufacturers are using CFL lamps as a stopgap solution until LED lamps become feasible.
Yes, CFLs are clearly a transitional technology. I already have my first few LEDs. Definitely the future. In the meantime, however, CFLs afford excellent energy savings if you use them appropriately.
> How about some resources for Europeans?
I briefly mentioned that Earth 991 is expanding to Europe, but is not yet listing anything. This is a shame, and I realize my article is North America-centric. We have a lot of Europeans who come to the site regularly. If any of you have resources to share, I'll either amend this article or write a supplement. Drop your tips in comments or mail me at tips [at] lighterfootstep [dot] com.
> I'll go with bulbs that actually work correctly, thanks.
CFLs work quite well, but you should be enough bulb and a light temperature which pleases you. As just a down-and-dirty rule, but the next step up from whatever incandescent you're replacing. CFLs radiate differently than standard bulbs, and I think people take the CFL lumen ratings too literally. If you're replacing a 60w incandescent, try a "100w" (usually about 25 watts) CFL. Have a look at the CFL guide referenced at the end of the article.
> And for all the complaints about the light CFLs shed, it's true that some make you want to backlight an X-ray, but I've bought my share of warm, natural-looking ones (from Ikea, no less).
There's that lighting temperature thing. I prefer cool white bulbs. Other people like a warmer tone, which you'll get with lower light temperatures. The lower the listed kelvin number, the yellower the light appears.
I think my refrigerator light is my last incandescent bulb. My ceiling lamps are all CFLs, and I have a couple of LEDs I'll be using for desk lighting soon. My power bill is noticeably lower than last year.
8. CFL Program for residents of Washington.
Guest, Guest  There is a great CFL recycling program for those of you in the King county WA area called the Take it Back Network. You can find it at: www.takeitbacknetwork.org There is a list of retailers and organizations there that recycle CFLs. 9. Best way to recycle
Loser, Guest CFLs never last as long as advertized! Just keep the receipts. Two to three years later send them back for free replacements. It cost maybe $3 to mail a couple back. That works out to about half the price of a bulb. Sems fair enough to me. I've used CFLs for 10 years now and find they lose brightness half way through the warrenty. Is there really a better way to recycle than this? 10. Thanks
Guest, Guest Thanks for the tips. It's a good thing I haven't tossed mine in the garbage yet.
11. CFL
Yolanda, Guest There's nothing wrong with CFLs if we know how to dispose them properly.
Thanks for the reminders. 12. n:vision cfls
Kristina Richardson, Guest Everyone can make a difference! If you are passionate about stopping global warming and the environment you should check out this website http://www.nvisoncfl.com. Change to CFLs a great way for individual people to really make a difference! You should also check out this site http://www.youtube.com/user/helpourworld for more ideas on how to help our world! 13. Dr. Eng. Mohamed Helal
Guest, Guest Thanks for the tips , I like to add somthing for not specialized users , CFL lamps are an inductive load , accordingly the are devided in 2 main category
A) High Power Factor CFL
B) Low Power Factor CFL
The first category are okay when compare to Incandecent bulbs they are using 25% of energy ..
The second category ( used 99% in USA ) because of they low power factor effect ( 50% ~ 60%) they will consume double of what the electric meter will show or close to double of category A of same power !!!
I'm surprised that this fact is not mentioned ? is that because of business interrest of large producers companies ???
Accordingly I do understand that only HPF CFL bulbs are really saving power while 99% of CFL bulbs used in USA are practically effecting the electric destribution companies and the IT infrastructure and maybe people health with they huge harmonic distortion ( > 130% ) ( there is a need to study the effect of THDiw on humen health )
Endeed the CFL bulbs are great invention , but we need more transparency to let them be green light .
As per recycle of CFL tubes , I reccomend the use modular system then tubes can be easy removed while electronic ballast with high power factor can serve for 45000 ~ 65000 hours , this system will allow easy control of tubes and less recycling of electronic parts that may contain other toxics parts .
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