Retail Recycling

Al Gore started it. That's all I'm saying. Today, we all know that recycling is good for the environment (we have the Power Point slides to prove it!), and so we dutifully recycle our paper, plastic, cardboard, newspaper and glass goods.

But, there are certain items that require more than simply dumping them into a blue bin. And that's where we get stuck. What are we supposed to do with things like cell phones or compact fluorescent light bulbs?

Retail to the rescue! Verizon Wireless has been offering in-store cell phone recycling for quite some time. And recently, Home Depot announced its commitment to recycling compact fluorescent bulbs in all 1,973 of its stores. According to the company, 75 percent of the nation's households are within 10 miles of a Home Depot store, making the company's recycling program the largest in the country. Impressive, eh?

There are, however, other retailers committed to the cause. Ikea, True Value and Wal-Mart also offer recycling to customers. But, Home Depot's program is different because of its size, making compact fluorescent light bulb recycling more readily available nationwide. That's good news, because as it stands, a mere 2 percent of bulbs are currently being recycled, according to a recent New York Times article.

“We’re trying to do the right thing,” said Ron Jarvis, senior vice president for environmental innovation at Home Depot. “Some of the things that we do are for the community and not for the bottom line." I just love it when it's not about the bottom line, Ron.

Additionally, here's some data worth mentioning--in 2007, Home Depot reported selling 75 million compact fluorescents, up from 50 million in 2006. That's a lot of light bulbs.

The question is will this added customer benefit actually impact the bottom line? If I'm going to Home Depot to recycle my CFLs (I just couldn't type that one more time and it is the industry standard acronym), I might as well buy some more, and then maybe pick up a bath tub or something. Will more shoppers hit up Home Depot to recycle and then stay awhile to buy some 2x4's and a shower rod? You just never know...but if I was Home Depot, I would be hoping so.

Either way, I love that the big Depot is expanding CFL recycling. Way to go! Perhaps this action will motivate more retailers to do the same--Wal-Mart has more locations than Home Depot but has been unable to put together a nationwide effort. So, let's get to it Wal-Mart!

Will you buy and recycle your bulbs at Home Depot now? Do you think the recycling program will bring in more sales? Tell us about it here!

--Heather Strang

FYI for those of you not aware (and who didn't watch An Inconvenient Truth): compact fluorescent light bulbs can dramatically impact energy bills. In fact, the average household's energy costs can be reduced up to $8 a month or more just from use of the bulbs alone.

Comments

[Tex]

The more important question is if only 2% of CFL's are being recycled, what is happening to the other 98% that are not?

With the extreme hazard that they present, if they are going into landfills aren't we setting ourselves up for an ecological disaster of epic proportions?