Friday, April 24, 2009

Reuse or recycle your dead light bulbs

Jennifer Davies (Contact)

AP

When a light bulb burns out, you can't simply chuck it in the recycling bin. Sure it might be glass, but many light bulbs, namely fluorescent ones, also have some pretty nasty stuff in them like mercury. Here is what you need to know about disposing of your light bulbs:

Incandescent light bulbs: These are the old-fashioned ones that you are supposed to ditch in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. While the bulbs don't contain mercury, most cities, San Diego included, do not accept them as part of their recycling program. While it's OK to toss them in the trash, there are some creative ways to reuse them.

• Make them into hanging vases. Click here for instructions.
• Another option is to make them into Christmas ornaments by painting and decorating them.

Fluorescent light bulbs: Whether they are regular fluorescent lights or CFL bulbs, which are the funny-looking spiral ones, you cannot put these in the trash or the recycling bin. Not only are you breaking California law, but you also are mucking up the environment. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to get rid of them.

• Stores like Home Depot and Ikea have free recycling programs for CFL bulbs.
• There are Web sites like lightbulbrecycling.com that provide packaging so you can send in light bulbs and have them disposed of properly for a fee.
• If you are a resident of the city of San Diego, you can take them to the Household Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility, which is open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You must make an appointment by calling (858) 694-7000 between 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The facility is located at the Miramar Landfill entrance on Convoy Street, just north of state Route 52.

Jennifer Davies (Contact)