CFL yes, but …

So, you’ve made the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Your home is now glowing longer, more efficiently and cooler than it did under the Easy-Bake Oven-warmth of those incandescent dinosaur eggs. Before you go patting your sustainable self on the back, though, there’s one more thing you have to do: When one of your CFLs does die, you have to recycle it properly. According to the handy CFL-recycling video that the good folks at Chico State’s AS Sustainability Program have put together, the state of California prohibits dumping CFLs in landfills because, like other fluorescent bulbs, CFLs contain mercury. See the video at the comprehensive CFL page at www.aschico.com/sustain/cfltakeitback, which also features advice on what to do if your CFL bulb breaks (leave the room for 15 minutes, wear gloves, scoop into plastic bag and recycle) and a list of CFL drop-off locations in the Butte County.

Chico: Collier Hardware, Park Village True Value, Neal Road Landfill, Butte Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility and Northern Recycling & Waste Services.

Paradise: Thomas Ace Hardware, Norcal Waste Systems (Recology), Northern Recycling & Waste Services.

Oroville: Better Deal Exchange and Fire Station No. 64.