Remember my post about the dangers of not recycling CFL bulbs? I just got word from the City of Raleigh’s recycling program that Home Depot will accept CFL bulbs for recycling. Says Linda Leighton, Raleigh’s Waste Reduction Specialist:
Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are lighting more homes than ever before, and Raleigh Recycling encourages our residents to use and recycle them safely. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights. Until now CFLs had to be taken to one of Wake County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facilities, the North Wake facility open the first Saturday of each month and the South Wake facility open the third Saturday of each month.
Home Depot, the home improvement big box store, had just made it more convenience for residents across the nation to properly recycle CFLs. They can simply be brought in to any Home Depot store and given to the employee at the return desk. How easy is that? Saves on gas too! You can find more information, including their press release at http://www6.homedepot.com/ecooptions/stage/pdf/cfl_recycle.pdf.
Hopefully this will keep us all from getting mercury poisoning. Yay!