• PorradaVFR@lemmy.world
    32·
    10 months ago

    I’m not clear if this is a legitimate question but….if so, it depends. In our city you can take them to Home Depot/Lowes for disposal. They should not be thrown out with garbage.

        • TDCN
          11·
          10 months ago

          The amounts is absolutely minimal and mostly “harmles” even if accidents were to happen. To my knowledge they don’t contain actual liquid mercury but only the vapours. If you break them by accident just ventilate the room well and you’ll be fine. Not to say it’s healthy, mercury is a serious matter and should be disposed of correctly. But no reason to be overly concerned if you break one by accident.

          • CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.workOPEnglish
            2·
            10 months ago

            I’m sure the risk presented by a couple of CFLs to just me is pretty small, but all together it seems like a significant problem for everyone.

          • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
            1·
            10 months ago

            As far as I know any exposure is bad. It builds up in your body like lead and there’s no way to get it out once it’s there.

            I blame lead for a good bit of mental damage in boomers, and it’s been linked to increases in crime.

        • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          9·
          10 months ago

          All fluorescent lights contain mercury, they can’t be made without it. These CFL bulbs contain significantly less mercury than the large fluorescent tubes though.

  • Chuckles@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    10 months ago

    If your city has a hazardous waste disposal location, you can take them there. In my area, it’s the same place that i take old paint and stain, batteries, solvents, tube tvs etc. our area has two dumps but only one of them takes hazardous materials, so I would do a little research.

    • Cort@lemmy.world
      1·
      10 months ago

      This right here is what I do. Ours also takes dead Christmas trees this time of year to turn into mulch

  • Wolf Link 🐺@lemmy.world
    7·
    10 months ago

    In Germany, pretty much every supermarket has 2 special bins near the entrance, one for lightbulbs and one for batteries. Maybe there’s something similar in your area?

    Otherwise I’d check with shops or hardware stores that sell these and/or a local electrician how they dispose of these and whether they’d be willing to take yours as well.

  • dirthawker0@lemmy.world
    3·
    10 months ago

    You really have to google your disposal service. It is by no means uniform across the country or even your state, but rather it depends on what kind of facilities your local disposal service has. For instance I moved from one county to another, and discovered I was not allowed to put paper milk cartons in the recycle bin. County A’s disposal company could recycle them, county B’s couldn’t.