ONE-STOP RECYCLING

Because they use less electricity and last for years, compact fluorescent light bulbs reduce pollution and save money. Some were leery of the bulbs, however, because they contain mercury and can’t simply be thrown in the trash. That problem has been minimized in Maine, with the country’s first statewide recycling program. Now, there is no excuse for not switching to the curly bulbs.

To make this recycling program better, the state and retailers should consider consolidating drop-off points for all items containing hazardous materials that they want consumers to recycle. The Department of Environmental Protection’s Web site now has separate lists of drop-off places for rechargeable batteries, thermostats, cell phones, computer and television monitors and fluorescent bulbs. Most can be left at local transfer stations that accept universal waste, but enabling people to go to one store, put the used item into a bin and be done with it would be a useful service.

Compact fluorescent lights contain a small amount of mercury, approximately 4 milligrams or about as much as the ink on the tip of a ballpoint pen. The mercury is necessary to create the charge that makes the bulb glow. Fever thermometers, by comparison, contain 100 to thousands of times more mercury.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a coal-fired power plant emits 10 milligrams of mercury to produce the electricity to power an incandescent bulb. Lighting a CFL for the same amount of time results in 2.4 milligrams of mercury emissions. So converting to CFLs will reduce emissions of mercury, a neurotoxin, as well as other pollutants such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL can keep half a ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Although CFLs cost more than traditional bulbs, they last up to 10 times longer.

More important, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Utilities Commission are working with stores statewide to establish drop-off spots for used CFL bulbs. More than 100 stores are already participating and the agencies hope to soon have 300 signed up.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the Maine program as a potential model for other states.

A better model would be to consolidate, as much as possible, consumer-product recycling.