Welcome to the Environment Colorado CFL Headquarters page.
Did you know that if every American household replaced its most highly used incandescent bulbs with CFLs, America's total household lighting consumption could be cut in half? And because CFLs last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, CFLs give you the chance to save money on your electricity bills and on light bulb costs -- all while helping save the environment through reduced stress on our power plants.
CFLs are becoming increasingly common in Colorado homes and businesses, and can be found at most places where customers traditionally buy light bulbs. And through the Colorado electric utility energy efficiency programs, CFL bulbs -- already a great value due their long life and energy savings -- are offered at discounts.
But despite their increasing popularity and decreasing cost, many Colorado residents have questions about CFLs:
- "Just how much can I save through using CFLs?"
- "How do I recycle CFLs?"
- "If I've broken a CFL bulb, how do I clean it up and dispose of it in a safe, responsible manner?"
- "And I've heard CFLs contain mercury . . . just how much mercury and does it pose a threat?"
Environment Colorado believes using CFLs helps save the environment through decreased energy consumption and the associated reduction in pollution from our power plants.
We've set up this page -- our Environment Colorado CFL Headquarters -- to help answer any questions you might have about using CFL bulbs.
The CFL Savings Calculator is a tool created by the U.S. Department of Energy to help customers understand just how much they can save through using CFL bulbs. This tool requires Microsoft Excel to run.
Environment Colorado has created a CFL Disposal page to help Colorado residents understand how to clean up and dispose of CFL bulbs in a safe, responsible, environmentally sound fashion.
The best and most responsible way to get rid of old your CFL light bulbs is through recycling them, but many Colorado residents simply don't know where to turn. Our CFL Recycling page is there to guide you through the how and where of CFL recycling.
CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury -- between 2 mg and 5 mg per standard residential bulb. Our CFLs and Mercury Content page puts these numbers into context and shows how you're actually helping reduce overall mercury exposure through using CFLs.
