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I moved into my flat in early 2004; since then, I’ve been replacing the original light bulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescents) as the old ones die — which seems to take a while, because I tend to use task or area lighting (i.e., local lamps) in preference to overhead light whenever possible. Today, after nearly three years, one of the bulbs in the kitchen died.

Though I’ve got a modest stockpile of regular CFLs, I’ve been dreading the kitchen bulbs’ deaths because the fixtures are recessed and the bulbs are funnel-shaped — you’re not supposed to use regular coil- or bulb-shaped CFLs in recessed fixtures. It looks as if my local Lowe’s has the reflective CFLs recommended for replacing reflective incandescents, but there are two problems with this.

Firstly, the closest Lowe’s is in Edgewood, and I’m not entirely sure where that is in relation to me — the directions tool on the Lowe’s site says it’s only 1.7 miles from me, but most of the streets are given as numbers instead of names, so I have no clue. Successful navigaton is a fragile enough art for me that I need all the help I can get, and numbers just aren’t going to cut it. My theory is that it’s in the massive, creepy brick faux old-fashioned downtown-type shopping complex just past Little Five Points, in which all the buildings look alike and there are a gazillion chain stores (well, I know there’s a Target and a Best Buy; I usually get creeped out by the theme park-like aura and run away quickly, so I’m not sure what else is there). On the other hand, I thought that complex was a bit farther than 1.7 miles: maybe two or three miles. Maybe I’m wrong; it does seem to be off Moreland, and the creepy fake shopping complex is the only place I can think it might be.

Secondly, of course, I’d much prefer to buy from a locally owned retailer, but, as usual, I run into problems with knowing exactly where to go. Maybe I’ll check the Ace Hardware a couple blocks from me — it’s a chain, too, but at least they’re locally owned, and every time I’ve been in there they’ve actually noticed my presence and offered to help. In the bigger home improvement stores, I generally have to set my hair on fire (or wear a shirt with a plunging neckline) to get the clerks’ attention.

If I can’t find a locally owned retailer, then I’d prefer one that is at least vaguely green: although they do at least let you filter products by whether they’re Energy Star rated, which I really appreciate, Lowe’s Web site doesn’t even have an environmental policy link anywhere on its home page! (WTF is up with that?) My first thought was IKEA, which is not perfect — are their restaurants still using eggs from caged hens? I haven’t heard that they’ve switched to cage-free — but does at least try, and also is where we take the batteries collected in our recycling program at work.* It would be good to reward them with some business, though I dread the idea of dealing with the crowds there on a weekend. Unfortunately, their Web site doesn’t list reflective CFLs among the available options. For both environmental and sanity preservation reasons, there is just no way I’m going to trek all the way over there on the off chance that they might have the bulbs I need. I’ll walk to Ace, and then walk down to the scary brick shopping center if necessary. Even if it’s more than 1.7 miles, as I think it is, I’ve got time, there are actually sidewalks along that path so it should be reasonably safe despite the traffic, and I’ve got gloves and a warm bobble hat to keep out the cold (it’s actually kind of chilly here! wheee!). Given that I’ve hardly done any serious walking at all — walking the dog doesn’t count, because he must stop and sniff things every ten seconds — since returning from my trip, I could certainly use the exercise.

Now I just need to find a place to recycle the old incandescent light bulb. IKEA recycles CFLs (which contain mercury, and thus really shouldn’t be chucked out) as well as batteries, but I’m not sure where you can recycle reflective incandescents. Earth911 doesn’t even have a category for them. Hmm. Any ideas, anyone?

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*At work, we made our first battery recycling dropoff this week. Two hundred eighty-four alkaline batteries were saved from the landfill and/or waste incinerators! Yay, us — and yay to everyone who’s participated. I’m so pleased that people were willing to bring their dead batteries to the drop-off places around the building, rather than just chucking them in the trash. People even brought batteries in from home!