(Silver City, NM, 18 November, 2014) Free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs are back. Stop by the Office of Sustainability at 1106 N. Pope St. There are usually open Monday through Thursday between 8:30 and 4:30. You can also pick up a free reusable shopping bag. For additional information call the office at 575-519-8987.

The bulb give-away is made possible by Public Service Company of New Mexico, PNM, to help people save money on their electric bill and save energy. The cost of electricity to light one of the free CFL bulbs for three hours a day is $2.41 per year but a standard 75 watt bulb would cost you $9.03. Plus the CFL bulbs should last over nine years.

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 either at the Office of Sustainability or Ace Hardware. If you dispose of a burned out CFL bulb in the trash, wrap it in several paper towels and place it in a sealable zip-lock style plastic bag. 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 bag with paper towels.

The Town and PNM also partnered with The Volunteer Center to provide reusable shopping bags. Shoppers who take their reusable bag shopping are benefiting the community in several ways. It will decrease the need for local merchants to supply a bag for your purchase, helping them adapt to the town ordinance requiring that retail stores eliminate single-use carryout bags by January 8, 2015. Reusable bags keep hundreds to thousands of retail paper and plastic bags out of the environment. This has numerous benefits such as fewer bags blowing around and littering the landscape.