WHO KNEW Some Light Bulbs Are Being Retired?

When a community fixture like Hanover True Value closes, the first thing you do is to wish the owners a happy retirement. The next thing is probably to plan where you’ll find the items you used to buy there, like lightbulbs. But no matter where you get them now, by the end of this year two common types of lightbulbs won’t be available at any other stores either.  

 Bulbs for most lamps and fixtures come in three formats:  incandescent, CFL, and LED. (A fourth type, Halogen, is mostly used in things like floodlights and overhead lighting.)  Two of them will be phased out of production as early as the end of this year.  But that doesn’t mean the ones we already have won’t need to be processed correctly when they do burn out.

Incandescent bulbs, the most common type for almost 150 years, were the first to come and will be the first to go. These bulbs use by far the most electricity and last the shortest time. They also waste most of the energy they consume, with only about 10% producing light and the rest producing heat. According to NH Energy News, burned out incandescent bulbs should be discarded with your regular trash rather than with glass recycling. You can wrap them in newspaper so that if they break during trash collection they won’t cut through your trash bag. 

The next bulb we began seeing - and the next to be phased out - is the spiral-shaped compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). Though more expensive, these bulbs are much more energy-efficient than incandescents. On the downside, because they contain mercury these bulbs are considered hazardous waste - and sometimes not even community haz-mat collection events will take them. However, you can place fluorescent lights, either CFLs or tubes, inside the red door of the shed at Lebanon Landfill. Do not put them in the nearby bin for glass items.  Check the website for more info: https://lebanonnh.gov/834/What-Goes-Where

Next up: the LED (light-emitting diode) bulb. At an amazing 25,000 hours, LED bulbs last almost 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. And they use only about 210 kWh of electricity compared to an incandescent bulb’s 1500 kWh. However, they do contain trace amounts of heavy metals so they, too, should be kept out of the regular trash. Some chain stores may have collection sites for used ones. Or check with the Lebanon Landfill.

You can get additional information by searching for “light bulbs” at https://search.earth911.com.