How do I recycle my CFL Light Bulb?

My compact fluorescent bulbs are still going strong over two years into their use, so I have not tried out the new recycling program at Home Depot, nor have I gone to look.  However, it seems as simple as dropping them off in a bin, perhaps with some sort of box around each one for protection of each bulb, and voila! Home Depot takes care of the rest.

And by doing so, you’re keeping toxic mercury out of our waste stream and recycling it back to the production stream, nevermind the metal, glass, and other materials found in a CFL.

We first discussed the merits of using compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs in, “Greener Under Twenty: Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs.”  At the time of that article’s publication, we had this to say about the subject of mercury in CFLs:

Compact fluorescent bulbs do contain a small amount of mercury, and most spent bulbs are not recycled, but rather dumped into landfills. While their use does result in less overall mercury being spewed into our air (and eventually our water and soil) by power plants, as CFLs gain in popularity, the result of hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions of them being dumped into our landfills would be a tragic ending to an effort to improve our society’s envirohuman impact.

According to a New York Times article from Tuesday:

Until now, consumers had to seek out local hazardous waste programs or smaller retail chains willing to collect the bulbs for recycling, like Ikea and True Value. Some consumers have waited for retailers like Wal-Mart to have a designated recycling day. Others bought kits to mail the bulbs to a recycling facility.

But now, Home Depot is rolling out the recycling option at all 1,973 of its U.S. stores.  This is a huge for making CFLs all the more environmentally friendly.  Previously, places to recycle the bulbs and the mercury within were rather scarce.  Today, 75% of American households are within ten minutes of a Home Depot store, according to the same New York Times article.  Dropping them off has never been easier!

The Business Side: The article makes mention of the idea that perhaps this will draw customers to the store.  That would be great for Home Depot, its shareholders, and potentially, for the environment.  As the second largest retailer in the U.S., Home Depot puts pressure on number one retailer, Wal Mart, to also begin offering recycling services.  Double that effect if it actually is found to bring in more customers.

As more and more Americans become aware of how this simple fixture change can save them money (in hard economic times) and help reduce energy production needs and improve their envirohuman impact in the process (during difficult environmental times), they will be more likely to seek out a large retailer that can allow them to responsibly recycle their CFLs.

Provided that Home Depot markets this program well, the cost of the program may very well find itself in the shadow of the benefits to the home improvement chain.  It gives customers yet another reason to make Home Depot a destination for shopping, and it increases the chances of a sale.  Think about how many products beside light bulbs that are found at both Home Depot and Wal Mart.

Suppose that a family needs, let’s say, a package of screws for a weekend project, both stores can provide that.  And while you can’t pick up milk while at Home Depot, if, “honey, can you please take those CFLs to Home Depot for recycling,” is uttered, the milk will wait, and Home Depot sells the screws, and potentially other items.  Getting customers in the door is the hard part — they tend to walk out with more than they had planned.

And this is good because it raises the bar a little bit, putting Home Depot out there, challenging Wal-Mart and other large retailers to consider recycling as a means of greening their images, doing something more that is largely positive for the environment, and potentially recycling as a means of gaining customers.

Remember, while CFLs reduce the amount of mercury churned into the air by coal-fired power plants due to people lighting their homes, by recycling them, we are truly completing the act by keeping the mercury found within the bulbs out of the waste stream!  Improve your envirohuman impact a little bit, each day!

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