Residents can take used fluorescent light bulbs to the following library branches:

* Bingham Creek, 4834 W. 9000 South, West Jordan.

* Calvin Smith, 810 E. 3300 South, Millcreek.

* Whitmore, 2197 E. Fort Union Blvd. (about 7000 South), Cottonwood Heights.

* Draper, 1136 E. Pioneer Road (12400 South), Draper.

* Hunter, 4740 W. 4100 South, West Valley City.

* Magna, 8339 W. 3500 South, Magna.

* South Jordan, 10673 S. Redwood Road (1700 West), South Jordan.

* R.V. Tyler, 8041 Wood St. (55 West), Midvale.

"The libraries are very convenient because they are right in people's neighborhoods," Dorothy Adams of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department said Thursday.

Used compact fluorescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes should be recycled instead of tossed into the trash because they contain small amounts of mercury, which could seep into the earth at a landfill and pollute the groundwater.

The county has been pushing residents to switch to energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs for some time, Mayor Peter Corroon said, but officials realized it could hurt the environment if a lot of them ended up in landfills.

"With one light bulb it's not an issue," he said, "but when you have thousands of people using them, it could be."

People can drop off the bulbs during the libraries' hours of operation, said Greg Near, public-relations coordinator for the Salt Lake County Library System.

"We're happy to do it," he said. "We're happy to help any way we can so the patrons can recycle."

Residents also can recycle fluorescent bulbs at the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility, 6030 W. California Ave. (about 1400 South) in Salt Lake City, and the Trans-Jordan Cities Landfill, 10873 S. 7200 West, in South Jordan.

omunoz@sltrib.com