For decades we have tossed blown light bulbs into the household trash, but with new ways to illuminate our homes also comes new means of proper light bulb disposal. Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) can not be tossed in the trash and sent to the landfills because the light bulbs contain mercury. One CFL bulb contains enough mercury to contaminate 2,000 gallons of water and the light bulb must be treated like hazard waste material and disposed of properly.
Take a blown CFL bulb to your nearby recycling center and they will handle the disposal process. Local hardware stores also offer disposal of CFL bulbs to their customers. Some light bulb manufacturers offer specially designed containers that will hold a dozen or so used CFLs that can be mailed, postage paid, back to the company for proper disposal.