(Silver City, NM: August 12, 2014) - You can obtain up to four compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs for free from the Office of Sustainability at 1106 North Pope Street. The hours are Monday - Thursday from 8AM to 5PM. The Town of Silver City Office of Sustainability is partnering with Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to save energy and help people save money on their electric bill. If you have electrical service from PNM you can take advantage of this program to replace old fashioned incandescent bulbs with energy-saving CFL bulbs. There is a limit of four bulbs per household.

Replacing a standard 60 watt incandescent bulb with the free 20 watt CFL bulb can save you about $5 a year on your electric bill based on three hours a day usage. Plus the CFL bulbs should last over nine years. These CFL's are 25% brighter than a standard 60 watt incandescent and don't give off as much heat.

Since CFL bulbs have a small amount of mercury in them when they do finally burn out they should be recycled or properly disposed of. They can be recycled at either the Office of Sustainability or Ace Hardware. If you should break a CFL inside a building open the windows, leave the room and allow at least 15 minutes for it to air out then carefully clean up the broken glass and discard it in a sealable plastic bag wrapped in paper towels.

The Office of Sustainability has a mission of creating greater community resiliency by promoting water conservation, waste reduction, recycling, energy efficiency and renewable energy. For additional details call the office at 575-519-8987.