Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Megan Vaniman said she was excited when she found out about what she could do with her compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.
“I had no idea that light bulbs could be recycled,” Vaniman, Kensal, N.D., senior said.
Students and residents can now begin recycling CFL bulbs at Home Depot, 1910 W. 31st St. Until last week, people could take old CFL bulbs to the City of Lawrence Waste Reduction and Recycling.
Vaniman said she started using fluorescent light bulbs last year and she didn’t know what she would do with them.
“I would have looked into it and found out what I could do with them instead of throwing them out,” Vaniman said.
Jamie Pealer, merchandise manager at Home Depot, said that the Lawrence store gave the community an opportunity to dispose of the light bulbs properly. He said the decision to recycle was a response to the national community.
“Going green is in, so we’re taking a big step,” Pealer said.
About 670 million fluorescent light bulbs are thrown away each year in the U.S. The discarded light bulbs can release two to four tons of mercury into the environment according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The gas in the bulbs is harmful to the environment, so you want to try to keep them from breaking,” Pealer said.
According to the EPA, people should always recycle CFL bulbs because they contained toxic chemicals. Each CFL bulb contains between 3.5 to 15 milligrams of mercury.
People are encouraged to recycle CFL bulbs at their local hazardous waste facilities in order to reuse and keep them from breaking.
The Lawrence Home Depot has containers inside the store where patrons can discard the bulbs. Pealer said it would be a normal procedure where people could come in and recycle them. He said broken bulbs would be given to store clerks instead of being put in the bins.
He said although the store hadn’t received a good response from the community yet, he said he hoped that feedback would pick up once the permanent bins were delivered.
Matt Hammon, Seattle senior, said that he always recycled in his hometown because it gave him a chance to keep the environment clean and to not waste resources.
“I feel bad about throwing things out,” Hammon said.
David Ngai, 2008 graduate and Hammon’s roommate, said he didn’t start recycling until he moved in with Hammon.
“Recycling is more important in the U.S,” Ngai said.
Pealer said that the new CFL recycling bins at Home Depot should eventually have a good response from the community.
“Returning light bulbs and trying to take care of the environment, it’s definitely a positive,” Pealer said. “The way the Lawrence community is, this is a huge plus.”
— Edited by Ramsey Cox
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