• gibmiser@lemmy.world
    1·
    11 months ago

    Those weird bulbs are called compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs. They are energy-efficient light bulbs that contain a small amount of mercury, which is toxic to humans and the environment. they should never be thrown away in the household trash.

    Your local dump or transfer station will (usually) have an attendant who knows how they deal with them.

    • M500@lemmy.ml
      English
      0·
      11 months ago

      Is it worse for the environment than driving 80 minutes round trip to the dump to ask about it?

      Genuine question.

      • nudny ekscentryk@szmer.info
        1·
        11 months ago

        Perhaps I’m talking from the European perspective but over here every supermarket and convenience store has a battery and light bulb recycling box. Can’t imagine it’s much different in the US.

        • Chobbes@lemmy.world
          01·
          11 months ago

          I’ve got bad news for you…

          Sometimes your place of work might have electronics recycling bins or something, but for the most part you’re expected to go to a special eco centre to recycle large electronics and batteries and stuff like this. Often you even have to pay a fee for them to take these items, which seems incredibly stupid to me because it just encourages everybody to throw them out with the normal trash.

          You may find some stores in some places that will take this stuff, but as far as I know this is not commonplace in much of North America. There are also some services where you can pay a fee for somebody to collect an item. We did that for a swollen lithium cell recently.

          • misophist@lemmy.world
            1·
            11 months ago

            You may find some stores in some places that will take this stuff, but as far as I know this is not commonplace in much of North America.

            Every single lowes or home depot has a recycling station for batteries and CFL bulbs at the entrance or near the customer service desk. I assume those stores are all over the country.