Light Bulbs!

This is what I do when I am having a day where I'm finding no scrap and have no current things to scrap, I would love to hear what others do!




Okay, So i'm gonna start off by saying what I usually do on slow days. Light bulbs...? Worth it maybe not, But if you get alot yes! The bottom of light bulbs as you may know are aluminum, They dont weigh alot but if you get them in the hundreds they will definatally fill your aluminum bucket! Ive been doing this for a short time now and its simple and only takes 5 minutes, Heres what you have to do; take all you light bubls and place them in a old sack, (Strong One) Fill it up if you have enough, And take a small board or sheet of plywood and set in ontop of the bag full of light bubls and step on it, They will all break on impact and when you open the bag just use gloves and take the aluminum out and put it in your aluminum pile! Its fast easy and makes more money than sitting around with nothing to scrap!

Thanks for the info, my only problem is what to do with all of the glass afterwards?

Ive been known to scrap a light bulbs here and there.
Also, What about the alum tops from mickeys beer bottles. pull out the plastic sealer and throw em with the alum cans.

I have some floods that appear to be brass saved. I would hate to find out they have the same gas in them as crt's. Some day incandescent bulbs will be collectable.

Originally Posted by Jonniebrass

I would hate to find out they have the same gas in them as crt's.

AHahaha.

depends on if they were good light bulbs and what kind older ones still can be a quick sell of 10-25cents each and always save the cf and led ones they are good money and the long overhead cfs

I second that Gravitar..............1 penny is better than no penny

Okay, here is my reply to all your posts:

First of all, I disagree about the payout. When you have nothing to do, and your watching tv, How much money are you making? When your scrapping lightbulbs in your garage, how much money are you making? More than none.


Secondly, How to dispose of them...? Well personally I am just a kid so I have no way of driving to recycle them so I just throw them in my trash can which I know is legal where I live but than again, when i get a truck I will be bringing them to a recycling plant.


Third, Sorry for using red font that is large, I was just experimenting and I won't use it again :]


And lastly, I find no harm in the gas's inside because I do it in an open area, In a bag and I do not breathe in any of the chemicals, as far as the enviorment goes and what harm it can cause, I have not done any prior research but I will do some research over my long weekend, And report back! Thank you for all your replies, They are appritiated (Idk how to spell- sorry) -DevinThaScrapper Out!

Gas in a CRT???? Gas in a light bulb???

CRT's have a vacuum, break one and stuff can bounce around. Cheap hime bulbs are filled with inert gas, then you have halogen bulbs full of gas you don't want to be wiffing all day.

Originally Posted by Gravitar

I don't think you can recycle the glass from lightbulbs, just like you can't recycle the glass from windows panes and drinking glasses. From my understanding, you can only recycle White (Clear), Green, Brown, And sometimes blue colored glass bottles and jars in most cities. It may be different in your city, but I have never seen a city accept window, lightbulb, or drinking glass for recycling.

Why is that? Are those kinds tempered or something ?

To get this thread going with the original question. When I'm full on hauling stuff in or when I'm farming and can't scrap, I stockpile the things I'm going to break down later like computers. Then when it gets slack time or a rain day I'll get a lot of the same type of item together to break down. I find that it goes faster when you can use the same tools and don't have to go hunting for them. Sometimes I'll get going on computers and strip 20 at a time. I have also done this with starter/contactors and breaker panels. One of my future projects is a pile of 50 lbs of breakers that I'll take apart using my drill press to get the rivets out.

I have to agree with the philosophy of "something is better than nothing" and all the small things can add up pretty good. Call me OCD but I simply cannot throw away a light bulb with the aluminum or brass intact.