Practicing Common Sense – and Safety, Too!

It’s the nature of most Oklahomans to practice using common sense. Your electric cooperatives in Oklahoma recognize that, and try hard to promote not only common sense energy-saving tips, but safe energy use as well.

Take the issue of using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in your home. Everyone knows that CFLs use less energy and last longer than standard incandescent bulbs. However, some people have a concern about the use of mercury in CFLs.

There’s no need to worry.

The amount of mercury inside the glass tubes of an average CFL is extremely small – about the equivalent of the tip of a ballpoint pen – and it’s especially small when compared to other items used around the house.

For example, a glass fever thermometer could contain nearly 100 times more mercury than the amount found in a CFL (500 milligrams compared to 4 or 5 milligrams in a CFL). An old-style thermostat could contain up to 3,000 milligrams of mercury – more than 600 times that of an average CFL bulb.

The fact is, CFL bulbs are safe to handle and use in your home. Even if you happen to break a CFL bulb, the amount of mercury that may become airborne poses a very low exposure risk.

There are no federal or state requirements that CFL bulbs be recycled. Some hardware stores and retailers have CFL recycling stations in their establishments, making it easy for proper and safe bulb disposal.

But since common sense and safety go hand-in-hand, here are some suggestions that might be followed when considering the best – and safest – way to dispose of CFL light bulbs:
• For burned-out CFLs: put the bulb in a sealed plastic bag, then place it with your regular trash.
• For broken CFLs: to be completely safe, open a window or door to disperse any vapor that might escape;
• Carefully sweep up the glass fragments with a broom – don’t use a vacuum sweeper – or your hands! It’s about common sense, remember?
• Lastly, put the fragments and the base of the broken CFL bulb in a sealed plastic bag, and place it with your regular trash.

CFLs are a great idea. They help you reduce your electric bill, and they can help your Co-op reduce the need for additional electric generation. Just use them safely, and dispose of them using common sense.