The Learning Without Limits Club includes students working to increase public awareness regarding the disposal of out-of-service mercury thermostats and CFLs in landfills and the environmental problems that can be caused as a result of this practice. The students collected and recycled mercury thermostats and CFLs and identified changes in lifestyle to prevent these devices from going to the landfill.

Students crafted a bill and presented it to Representative Jeff Kaufmann. Students asked for his support to introduce legislation to require the recycling of out-of-service mercury thermostats and to ban the sale of mercury thermostats in the state of Iowa. House File 2669 unanimously passed both the Iowa House and Senate. On May 12, 2008 Governor Culver invited the students to witness the signing of the bill into law. Senate file 2321 regarding CFLs was also crafted by the students and was unanimously passed by the Iowa House ad Senate. The bill was signed into law requiring the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to research the waste issues related to CFLs and to report back to the legislators. Recycling of Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) is necessary to prevent the needless contamination of our landfills.

Looming inside most households and businesses are inconspicuous and seemingly hazard free thermostats and CFLs. These devices are very efficient but require mercury to perform their task. Honeywell introduced the mercury thermostat in 1953. The life span of a thermostat is about 30 years and approximately 1/30th of the thermostats currently in use are replaced and discarded each year. The US EPA estimates 63 million mercury thermostats are in use in just the residential sector.

Homeowners replace about 40% of all thermostats. Without proper management, mercury is released into the environment during disposal at the end of a thermostat's useful life. In a 2002 published report, the New York Academy of Sciences estimates 2-3 million thermostats are discarded annually nationwide and leach 8-12 million grams of mercury into landfill cells. Cost effective CFLs were manufactured in 1995. A CFL life span is 10-15 years. A CFL has 3-6 milligrams of mercury or the amount the size of a ballpoint pen tip. In 2007, CFLs made up 20% of the U.S. light bulb market. Since January 1, 2007 over 162 million CFLs have been purchased nationwide according to 18seconds.org.

The number of CFLs estimated in use is a staggering 1.5 billion. The 2007 Casadia report estimated 675 million CFLs were annually disposed in landfills producing 30,000 pounds of waste. The mercury used in CFLs is released to the air when the lamp breaks during collection, spreading or compacting at the landfill, or the gas is released in landfills. Less than 2% of the public is recycling CFLs according to Paul Abernathy, executive director of the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recycler.

When mercury is disposed in landfills, microorganisms change the elemental mercury into methyl mercury. Mercury thermostats are one of the largest sources of mercury disposed into municipal solid waste landfills and incinerators. Mercury is a potent and life threatening neurotoxin that can accumulate in fish and predatory animals as methylmercury which poses a health hazard to humans and predatory animals. Florida panthers have been documented producing severely brain damaged young that are incapable of hunting. Forty-five states have issued mercury fish consumption advisories, warning citizens to restrict intake of fish due to mercury contamination. Over 13 million lake acres and almost 800,000 river miles have mercury fish advisories (US EPA Fact Sheet 823-F-04-016). According to Linda Barr, US EPA Chief Waste Minimization Branch, mercury is one of the top three hazardous chemicals.

Only 14 states prohibited mercury thermostats from being disposed in landfills. Our goal is to convince Congress to craft a national law that requires out-of-service mercury thermostats to be recycled, ban the sale of mercury thermostats, and require the recycling of CFLs.

"Mercury Thermostats and CFL's: Inconspicuous Household Hazards" has received two regional 19 state award, was the 2006 2nd place recipient (thermostat project) and the 2007 national first place recipient (CFL project) in the eCybermission national award sponsored by the U.S. Army. Students visited with Linda Barr, U.S. EPA, in Washington, D.C. and were commended at the Capitol by Senator Charles Grassley and Congressman David Loebsack. Governor Culver invited the students to witness the signing of their bill into law.

Partner Statement

National Geographic is excited to congratulate the Learning without Limits Club and the students of West Branch Middle School for their commendable work to increase public and student awareness of the environmental benefits of recycling mercury thermostats and burned out CFLs. Their success in garnering community and legislative action as a result of student research and a public awareness campaign furthers National Geographic's mission to inspire people to care about the planet and its inhabitants. We look forward to hearing about the program's future expansion and positive environmental impacts which this award will facilitate.