New light bulbs use a fraction of the electricity the older ones used to. Fortunately the quality and color of that light they shine is also more natural and doesn't come with that old "hum" of the earlier versions. It's great to save energy, and money, but what is the safe way to dispose of these new technologies once they eventually wear out?

Recycling?
First and foremost, no light bulbs can be recycled in your curbside recycling. Our program can only recycle the kitchen, bath and laundry containers, paper and cardboard that is specifically illustrated in the annual Recycling and Trash Guide, so please be very careful to follow those guidelines. Worker safety and your safety is at risk.

The incandescent bulbs, or Edison bulbs as the contemporary, reproduction versions are known, are filament bulbs, the same technology used in the time of Thomas Edison. These bulbs have no harmful materials in them so they can be placed in the regular trash when they burn out.

Fluorescent bulbs come in many sizes and shapes. They can be approximately the same size and shape as the Edison bulbs, and we call these CFLs, short for compact fluorescent lamps. Or, they can be 4 feet long and light up your attic or basement work areas. Fluorescent bulbs use 25-35% less electricity than the incandescent bulbs, and were seen as a huge energy savings improvement when invented in the 1970s. Since becoming popular in the 1990s, we can all enjoy bulbs that last 8-10 times longer than the incandescent bulbs, and our lighting bills can be up to 12% lowered. However, because these bulbs contain mercury as a vapor inside them, we must dispose of these properly and not in our regular trash. If this mercury is accidentally included in our regular trash, it will travel to the incinerator, or waste-to-energy facility, where burning it can release mercury as air and water pollution.

Local solution partners: Our local hardware stores
We can all do our part not to let this happen. Fortunately two local hardware stores, Wanamaker True Value Hardware at 1298 Mass Ave, and R.W. Shattuck Ace Hardware at 24 Mill Street are both Town partners for safely disposing of the fluorescent bulbs and lamps. As a resident of Arlington, you may bring your bulbs to their customer service counters during their business hours, and they will see that these are safely recycled with the help of the Town. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that almost all of the components in these bulbs can be recycled by the Environmental Service Companies hired to handle them, making these bulbs less "wasted" than incandescent bulbs.

Another common bulb type is halogen bulbs, which can feel hot to the touch but last longer than incandescent bulbs. These bulbs must be thrown away in the trash when they burn out.

The newest lighting development is LED bulbs, short for light emitting diode. These last longer, shed beautiful light, but cost more to purchase. For now, these must be thrown away in the trash, but since there is a lot of metal in them, researchers hope to find ways to recycle them in the future.

According to energystar.gov "LEDs are 'directional' light sources, which means they emit light in a specific direction, unlike incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs, which emit light and heat in all directions".

Whether you have invested in LEDs for your recessed lighting, or have found the new omnidirectional bulbs useful for your reading lamp next to your sofa or bed, chances are you will not need to dispose of these bulbs for a long time. LEDs can last ten years or longer, even with daily use. Most importantly to most consumers, however, is the lower cost over the lifespan of the bulbs, since these use a fraction of the energy of other bulbs.

Over 20 years, for the same amount of light, this is what you would play for each kind of bulb (price of bulb + cost of electricity): Incandescent bulb- $360; Halogen Bulb- $216; CFL- $164; LED- $90. (Wikipedia)

Should we swap out older technology?
Some people may wonder, if there is so much energy and money savings with newer bulbs, should I replace the older bulbs in my home now? Warning: if you are a true New England Yankee, you may not like the following advice, but we offer it from colleagues in the recycling and energy efficiency fields.

Filament/incandescent light bulbs that are used daily should be changed out immediately, regardless of their lifespan. This is due to the energy savings from LED and even CFL bulbs far outweighing the material waste of still-usable filament bulbs. If these filament/incandescent bulbs are in fixtures that are not used very often, it doesn't make sense to throw them out. This may be the case in your basement or attic light fixtures. Ideally, replace them with LED when they finally burn out.

In addition,  all CFL bulbs should be replaced with LED bulbs only once they burn out. Perhaps the best advice is this: because of constant technical and material advances, light bulbs of any type should not be stock piled – buy them as you need them to get the best energy conservation and life span.