Light Up Your Life

This post is not seasonal or jolly in any way. Happy Thanksgiving!

I finally remembered to gather my compact florescent lights (CFLs) a couple of weeks ago and take them in for recycling. Which, for me, involved wrapping them carefully in plastic bags and packing them into a box get to Home Depot on my bicycle so they didn't crack or anything goofy like that on the way. They do have a bit of mercury in them, which is not the sort of thing I want hanging around in my panniers.

Source.

The guy I found in the lighting department at Home Depot was really nice, and pointed out that Home Depot keeps the CFL recycling box at the front of the store, not near the light bulbs, which is just crazy. Anyway, he was very kind about praising my earth-friendliness, which makes me think that Home Depot really is recycling properly, and not just putting out a box to make people feel good. And if your CFLs run out, you can find a recycling spot near you here.

The man also said the amount of mercury in CFLs is smaller than the tip of a pen, which is good to know-- the way people talk about CFLs sometimes, I felt like I was handling a fragile deathtrap. Turns out, cleaning up a broken CFL is not terribly different from cleaning up any other broken light bulb, except that the EPA recommends letting the room air out for 10-15 minutes in case any mercury vapour escaped.

The whining on Facebook about incandescents being banned has picked up again lately, which makes me think that one of the "the government is coming for your children next!" horror stories is probably circulating again. Yeah, not so much. (In case you don't want to click through: incandescents aren't banned. You can still get them.)

Do you use CFLs? Do you recycle them?