Recycling Light Bulbs

You can make recycling light bulbs as a hobby and together with a little bit of creativity, the end results will give you satisfaction and also be an attractive item for display because you managed to do it yourself. Light bulbs are very difficult to recycle due to its type of having filaments or even mercury which contributes to the inclusion of toxins when it is disperse to the environment.

Below are some of the tips and ideas on how to recycle light bulbs.

What you need:

  1. Burned out light bulb
  2. Flat primer spray paint for the base coat
  3. Acrylic paints in hunter green, white, dusty rose and blueberry
  4. Small sections of raffia
  5. Very thin pieces of grapevine
  6. Florist\’s wire
  7. Acrylic sealer spray
  8. Art supplies

Method:

  1. First of all, you must have a storage container for keeping all the recycled light bulbs collected from your monthly usage around your house because if it is not kept in a safe place, it will cause danger especially to children.
  2. Co-operate with your neighbor so that you can have a recycling program of light bulbs for your surrounding community for example by distributing notice regarding drop-off times for recycled light bulbs at your house.
  3. Gather information from your company\’s recycling methods of disposal or maybe from the office-supply companies or even from the state-recycling agencies which can be used for your community or personal recycling.
  4. Also look from the internet regarding online-recycling programs for light bulbs from websites such as the LightBulbRecycling.com. Besides that, you can also look for any local websites near your community which conduct recycling activities where you can even sign-up for their newsletters and reminders for specific collection periods.
  5. Decorate the light bulbs as ornaments using paint, glitter and other artistic supplies, so that you can hang them on your Christmas tree.
  6. If you are tired of using light bulbs, try using energy-efficient light which can last for several years and enable you to reduce the number of bulbs for you to recycle. Apart from that, you can also invest in lighting fixtures and lamp that come with automatic shut off function when no one is using it thus provide additional savings to your family.

Additional Reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2164166_recycle-light-bulbs.html
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/decorations/lightbulb.shtml
http://earth911.com/recycling/household/light-bulbs/tips-on-recycling-light-bulbs/
http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/30565.aspx

Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iconolith/2447524004/