Are Mercury Containing Lamps an issue in North Carolina?

Recently, North Carolina has made the news on a national level. In this case, however it is not on a positive note. Mercury levels in fish and water streams in NC are at unsafe levels. Today we would like to ask, "Do you think North Carolina Businesses should recycle their fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, and other mercury containing lamps?". NC DENR has put out a report entitled "Report on the Generation and Potential Recycling of Fluorescent Lights". In this report there is a section which address the total amount of mercury ready for discard in North Carolina in what they refer to as Lamps Containing Mercury or "LCM's". In Table 2 they have estimate of Mercury Content of LCM's in Use and Sold in North Carolina or fluorescent lamps to be specific.

Table 2: There are an estimated 15 million lamps ready for discard annually in NC, 11 Million from commercial "non-household". There are estimated to be 120 million mercury containing lamps in use in North Carolina. Think about this, based on their estimates that would equal 105,000,000 milligrams of mercury ready to be discarded in North Carolina. We want to hear from you. Are you currently recycling fluorescent lamps? Does your business or organization have a plan in place for recycling of mercury containing lamps? To find out more about recycling of lamps visit www.myecolamp.com

Keywords: Mercury Containing Lamps, Recycling Fluorescent Lamps, Ballast. HID Recycling. North Carolina, Raleigh.

Flourescent Recycling Solutions for Small to Medium Size Businesses in North Carolina

Have you ever wondered what to do with a linear fluorescent light after changing it out? Or maybe you recently came across some old HID lamps that have not yet been thrown away? Did you know that in North Carolina and many other states that fluorescent lamps and other mercury containing lamps are banned from being disposed in the trash for "Non-Household" use. Whether you are a small business or a large business you may want to find out more about what to do with these lamps at end of life. My Eco Lamp, located in Raleigh, North Carolina has created a local service that helps keep down the cost of recycling for small to medium size businesses looking to recycle fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, other mercury containing lamps, ballast, batteries and other items. Providing local service is one way in which they hope to make a difference in the local community. "Helping keep 100 lamps or 1,000 lamps containing mercury adds up" says service specialist Harry. He goes on to say that even the lowest level fluorescent lamp still contains over a mg of mercury and it takes just 1mg to spoil a body of water. Being passionate about lighting in general has also helped My Eco Lamp with getting the word out about the benefits of recycling. One of the founders has a background in commercial lighting and enjoys helping answer questions about lighting and recycling. To find out more about fluorescent lamp recycling or just to say hi, you can visit My Eco Lamp online.



My Eco Lamp is located in Raleigh, North Carolina and services from Greensboro to Wilmington. Whether your business has 1 lamp or a 1,000 lamps they have a service to fit your needs.

My Eco Lamp Launches a Commercial Lighting Supply Business

My Eco Lamp, LLC is excited about the opportunity to help local businesses, churches, towns and communities in the Raleigh, North Carolina with a full line of commercial lighting. My Eco Lamp started out as a lamp recycling service provider offering affordable solutions for lamp recycling for businesses seeking an affordable and local solution for their recycling needs. Now with the introduction of a full line of lamps, ballast, fixtures My Eco Lamp is able to help better serve the needs of the local area.

If you are looking for 1 lamp or a 1,000 My Eco Lamp Supply is a new twist on the "old" school of lighting distributors. My Eco Lamp seeks to bring the "Next Generation of Lighting" to the industry. One way in which they are able to do this is by offering free energy audits and analysis of current lighting conditions along with offering assistance to sort through various EPACT rebates and local rebates by Progress Energy and Duke Energy. My Eco Lamp is a Trade Ally working locally with customers as well as throughout the state.

To find out more about My Eco Lamp and the "Next Generation of Lighting" visit them online at http://www.myecolamp.com

Why Recycle Fluorescent Lamps?

With the ever increasing popularity of the CFL-Compact Fluorescent Lamp (Or as some would say, the "Ice Cream" shaped lamp), comes the added responsibility of knowing what to do with them when they are at the end of life? There have been some great features on CFL's and the benefits of them. From saving energy, to lowering the impact of carbon footprints and green house gases.

We will not be discussing this today but instead would like to ask the question, "Why recycle fluorescent lamps"? All high energy efficient lamps contain mercury for the operation of the lamps. My Eco Lamp

Earth911 has summarized it this way on it's site under the topic of Facts About Light Bulbs We especially like the area that asks "What’s the Deal With Mercury?

Some lamps include mercury and are regulated by local governments as it relates to proper disposal. Throwing your burnt-out lamps in the trash is not only dangerous, but illegal. In such states as California, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and many more, it is unlawful for anyone to dispose of fluorescent lamps as universal waste. If you’re looking for somewhere to drop your spent CFL, you can recycle CFLs using Earth911.

* Every year, about 600 million fluorescent light bulbs are disposed of in U.S. landfills.
* This amounts to about 30,000 pounds of mercury waste.
* These bulbs can break and the vapors can harm not only workers, but also the environment through seeping into groundwater.
* In 1992, mercury containing bulbs were added to the U.S. EPA’s list of hazardous substances. Five years later, they moved to number three on that list.


To find out more about the topic of lamp recycling or to start a program at your home or business, visit My Eco Lamp online. We offer affordable solutions for lamp recycling. In addition, we would love to hear from you. If you have a question about recycling or just curious about something, drop us a line.

Welcome to our blog on lamp recycling. We are delighted you have stopped by. Over the next couple of weeks we will be looking for ways to help with getting the word out about the benefits of recycling mercury containing lamps and also the dangers that we are facing in regards to lamps being discarded in landfills.

Is green good? "Green" end caps is great marketing. Over the last few years, I have been hearing this comment a little more often when it comes to lamps with green end caps, "Well, we purchase lamps that have green end caps and these do not have mercury in them and I can throw them away". This is one of the bigger challenges facing many towns and communities as many are unaware that these lamps do contain mercury. In fact, as of today on a 4 foot linear T-8 fluorescent lamp that has green end caps, there is actually about 1.7 milligrams of mercury. Some of the other green end cap lamps have much more mercury content.

Some facts about Mercury containing lamps (more to come in proceeding posts):
It takes just 1 milligram of mercury to contaminate up to 5,300 liters of water.

If a person were to throw away just 10 of the green end cap lamps using the above amount, that would be 17 milligrams. 100 would be 170 milligrams and 1,000 would be 1,700 milligrams.

To find out more about lamp recycling visit My Eco Lamp

My Eco Lamp is looking for help with spreading the word about our community program "Planting Seeds of Hope". If you would like to find out more, please drop us a line. We would love to hear from you.

Happy 4th of July

My Eco Lamp wishes you and your loved ones a Happy 4th of July. We thank the troops who are serving our country here and around the world. We would not have the freedom we have today if it were not for the brave ones who have gone before us. Thank you and Happy 4th of July.



My Eco Lamp
"Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Solutions"

Planting Seeds of Hope-Community Outreach

Raleigh, North Carolina -- May 30, 2009 -- My Eco Lamp is looking for help with getting the word out about recycling of fluorescent lamps and mercury containing lamps. In an effort to help, we are in the process of launching our community outreach program "Planting Seeds of Hope". The "Planting Seeds of Hope" outreach will be an effort to help local towns and communities setup recycling centers for CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) for recycling.

We are looking for sponsors and outreach partners to help us with spreading the word about mercury containing lamps. With the ever increasing popularity of energy saving lamps, comes the rising responsibility of disposing of these tools properly.

IF you are interested in finding out more or would like to find out how your town can setup a recycling center, contact us today. Together we can help "Plant Seeds of Hope" for a better tomorrow.