recycle your CFLs

[humanoid]

http://ir.homedepot.com/ReleaseDetai...leaseID=317987

The Home Depot Launches National CFL Bulb Recycling Initiative

Also Implementing In-Store Energy Conservation Program

ATLANTA, June 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today expanded its long-term commitment to the environment and sustainability by launching a national in-store, consumer compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb recycling program at all 1,973 The Home Depot locations. This free service is the first such offering made so widely available by a retailer in the United States and offers customers additional options for making environmentally conscious decisions from purchase to disposal. The Home Depot Canada launched a CFL recycling program in November, 2007.

At each The Home Depot store, customers can simply bring in any expired, unbroken CFL bulbs, and give them to the store associate behind the returns desk. The bulbs will then be managed responsibly by an environmental management company who will coordinate CFL packaging, transportation and recycling to maximize safety and ensure environmental compliance.

In addition to the CFL recycling program, The Home Depot has also launched an in-store energy conservation program to switch Light Fixture Showrooms in U.S. stores from incandescent bulbs to CFLs by Fall 2008 and save $16 million annually in energy costs.

The CFL recycling program is an extension of The Home Depot's Eco Options program. Eco Options, launched in April 2007, is a classification that allows customers to easily identify products that have less of an impact on the environment.

"The CFL recycling program is another example of how The Home Depot is empowering customers to help make a difference in their own homes, and have less of an impact on the environment," said Ron Jarvis, senior vice president, Environmental Innovation. "With more than 75 percent of households located within 10 miles of a Home Depot store, this program is the first national solution to providing Americans with a convenient way to recycle CFLs."

Switching from traditional light bulbs to CFLs is an easy change consumers can make to reduce energy use at home. According to the EPA's ENERGY STAR(R) program, if every American switched out one incandescent bulb to a CFL, it would prevent more than $600 million in annual energy costs and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 800,000 cars. As the largest retailer of light bulbs in the country, The Home Depot sold over 75 million CFLs in 2007, which saved Americans approximately $4.8 billion in energy costs and 51.8 billion pounds in CO2 greenhouse gases over the life of the bulbs.

Other environmental initiatives The Home Depot has implemented since the launch of Eco Options in April 2007 include:

-- Store recycling program in the U.S. of shrink wrap and mixed plastics, which will result in 50 million pounds of waste diverted from landfills each year.

-- Internal recycling initiative at corporate headquarters that is projected to increase the amount of recycled materials from 30 percent to at least 65 percent.

-- Renewed commitment to use transportation partners registered in SmartWay program and ensuring The Home Depot distribution facilities and stores further promote emission reduction.

For more information on the CFL Recycling Program or Eco Options, please visit www.homedepot.com/ecooptions.

About The Home Depot

The Home Depot(R) is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,262 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and China. In fiscal 2007, The Home Depot had sales of $77.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $4.2 billion. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index. HDG

SOURCE The Home Depot

http://www.homedepot.com

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

News Provided by COMTEX

[krygny]

In every practical way, I care about the environment and conservation as much as anyone, but I am not going to hang on to my burned out CFLs until my next trip to Home Depot. If a bulb burns out, it's goin' in the trash.

Oh, and BTW: CFLs suck!!. They cost a lot more than incandescent bulbs, they don't illuminate as much as they claim, they don't last 10 times as long (claimed) and they contain Hg.

What's not to like?

[midwest1982]

I really like CFL's. I didn't like how hard it was to recycle them, but now it will be easier. Home depot will have a 1 in 4 chance I will buy new CFL's (I buy the 4 pack for $6.88 there the other day). And my office at work is only .5 of a mile away so I can drop them off before or after work.

I disagree with you that they are not as bright. The new ones turn on faster, are just as bright as my 60 watt bulbs, and I have had only one burn out, but I think I mishandled it when I transported.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by krygny
. . . I care about the environment and conservation as much as anyone, . . .

Really?

We could not tell.

[krygny]

Originally posted by N_Jay


Really?

We could not tell.

I'm limiting the comparison to reasonable people. Most reasonable people will put recyclable items in a separate pail and put it at the curb like the rest of the trash. Most reasonable people will not store their garbage just because someone tells them "it's being green".

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by krygny

I'm limiting the comparison to reasonable people. Most reasonable people will put recyclable items in a separate pail and put it at the curb like the rest of the trash. Most reasonable people will not store their garbage just because someone tells them "it's being green".

OK,

I guess I did not realize how unreasonable it was to have a small bag in the closet to hold the few bad CFLs that gather.

Yes, I have commented that I wish our curbside recycling would take CFLs and batteries, but I deal with it.

[larrys]

Originally posted by krygny

Oh, and BTW: CFLs suck!!. They cost a lot more than incandescent bulbs, they don't illuminate as much as they claim, they don't last 10 times as long (claimed) and they contain Hg.

What's not to like?

While I'd like to be able to use CFL's throughout my house I find that they're really not ready for prime time. Proponents of them say you can buy a CFL bulb for a few bucks and replace all of your incandescent bulbs with them.

My issues with them are:

• They don't last nearly as long as they claim.
• The color temperature of them is horrible.
• They take way too long to warm up (When new they come up to full brightness very quickly. But, within a week or two they start to take longer and longer).
• Most are not dimmable.
• They're all of that twisted shape. The fancier ones just put another frosted cover over them to give them our traditional shapes.

Consumer reports did an article on them a little while ago and also noted that turning them on and off frequently will shorten the life of the bulb. So, should I just turn all of my house lights on when I get home instead of turning the lights off when I leave a room? That would seem to lose all of the energy efficiency gains in using a CFL.

I do have a few places where I use them like my living room, family room and front porch. But, in any application where I want the light to turn on to full brightness quickly or if the light is cycled frequently or in a fixture that dims (like all of the ceiling fans in each of my bedrooms) I use standard incandescent bulbs.

Here's a short YouTube video that may be interesting to some:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

Personally, I don't think CFL's have much of a future. I'm waiting for LED lighting to be more affordable.

Of course this is all just my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions... they're like a$$holes. Everybody has one and everyone else's stinks .

Later,
Larry.

[humanoid]

Guys, I posted the article about recycling CFLs. Do them or don't, the choice is ultimately yours. I just wanted to make aware to people that they have an option to recycle their used CFLs.

I could give a rat's @$$ about how you feel about CFLs in general. Please don't muck up my thread on whether you think CFLs will save the planet or not, start your own thread if you want to argue that.

[midwest1982]

Your thread? Sorry, but I have noticed on a lot of other threads that they just go to many different topics that the original poster might not of wanted to.

But I must say you did a beautiful copy and paste job to start this thread. How long did it take to start, 5 seconds?

[rocky]

My Town has been recycling CFLs, flurescent tubes for years. So whats the big deal about HD? Check with your Town, they may have a drop off place as well.

Based on my experience with light bulbs at HD, inc CFLs I wouldn't ever buy another one from there (mostly phillips brand).

Lowes has GE which are much better.

[jcantanixon]

Originally posted by larrys

• They don't last nearly as long as they claim.
• The color temperature of them is horrible.
• They take way too long to warm up (When new they come up to full brightness very quickly. But, within a week or two they start to take longer and longer).
• Most are not dimmable.
• They're all of that twisted shape. The fancier ones just put another frosted cover over them to give them our traditional shapes.

How strange. Almost my whole house has been CFL for almost 3 years, not one bulb has burned out. I chose different color temps for different situations, more white for the bathrooms and kitchen, etc. I don't notice any sort of warm up, must only take a second or two.

I guess I'm just lucky. If I had bulbs that were expensive and crappy, I wouldn't like them either. Judging by other posts in this thread, I'll stay away from HD except to recycle mine when/if they die. Thanks for the info OP.