Compact fluorescent light bulbs are God's gift to the environment -- they are far more energy efficient than regular light bulbs, which means they cause fewer carbon dioxide emissions -- until they burn out and you want to get rid of them. Then, it turns out, they contain small amounts of mercury, a highly toxic chemical.

Everyone from Dominion Virginia Power to Wal-Mart to just about every environmental group in the country urges consumers to buy CFLs. But what happens when they burn out? There isn't much help for anyone who wants to dispose of them properly.

In the Richmond area, Atlantic Electrical Supply Corp. has stepped in with a program, free to homeowners, to take back the bulbs for recycling. The company packages the bulbs in special boxes and ships them via Federal Express to a mercury recycling center operated by Veolia Environmental Services, reports Greg Edwards with the Times-Dispatch.

Atlantic Electrical charges businesses a fee -- enough to break even -- for recycling the bulbs or sells them boxes that they can fill and ship themselves. The company also is trying to convince some local light-bulb retailers to buy boxes and offer recycling services to their customers.