Hazardous Household Waste

1.What if I accidentally break a CFL in my home? CFLs are made of glass and can break if dropped or roughly handled. Be careful when handling a bulb, and always screw and unscrew the bulb by its base (not the glass). Never forcefully twist a CFL into a light socket. In the event of breaking a CFL, you can clean it up through the following procedures:Note: Intact used bulbs can be recycled at most Home Depot and Ace Hardware locations. Broken CFL’s are not accepted and must be disposed of at a hazardous household waste facility. * Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the breakage. This will spread the mercury vapor and dust throughout the area and could potentially contaminate the vacuum. * Keep people and pets away from the breakage area until the cleanup is complete. * Ventilate the area by opening windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before returning to begin the cleanup. Mercury vapor levels will be lower by then. * For maximum protection and if you have them, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the sharp glass. * Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass container with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar. A glass jar with a good seal works best to contain any mercury vapors inside. Other jars that can be made of glass and also work are pickle, peanut butter and applesauce jars. Not ideal but also a good choice for containing breakage is a heavy duty No. 2 plastic container with either a screw lid or push-on lid such as a joint compound bucket or [...]