Care of Energy Saving Light Bulbs
You can reduce your energy costs by switching from inefficient incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights (CFL), but while these bulbs use less energy, they contain mercury which requires special handling and care during and after use. The toxic nature of mercury requires a series of steps for its proper cleanup to keep you and your family safe, but if you use caution when handling the bulbs, you will rarely need to clean a broken bulb. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Disposable gloves
- Cardboard
- Heavy resealable plastic bag or glass jar with metal lid
- Duct tape
- Vacuum (optional)
Instructions
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Screw compact fluorescent lights into a socket by holding them at the base, not the glass, and twisting them into the light socket in a clockwise motion.
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Unscrew the bulbs by turning them counterclockwise after they have burned out and seal in a plastic bag before taking to a mercury recycling center for disposal.
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Clear people and pets out of the room if a CFL bulb breaks. Turn off air vents to the room for 15 minutes. Open all windows and doors in the room to air out the mercury vapors.
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Wear disposable gloves and scoop up pieces of the broken bulb with cardboard, depositing the bits in a heavy plastic bag or glass jar.
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Press a piece of duct tape, sticky side down, on the floor to pick up invisible slivers of glass from the bulb, and place the used tape in the container with the broken bulb.
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Vacuum the area only if the bulb broke over carpeting. Pull out the vacuum bag and seal it in plastic sack with the broken bulb for disposal immediately after vacuuming up the broken fluorescent light bulb.
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Seal the container with the broken bulb, used duct tape and vacuum bag and take to a recycling center or hazardous waste disposal center.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Cfl fluorescent lightbulb on dark background image by Silverpics from Fotolia.com
