"When we launched PlaNYC, our 127-point agenda for creating a greener, greater New York, we invited all New Yorkers to participate by taking steps in their everyday lives to protect the environment and become more energy efficient, and we challenged our business and nonprofit communities to do the same.  Today, Home Depot has announced that it will help more consumers protect the environment - and become energy efficient - by opening recycling centers for Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) at every one of their stores in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island - and across the country.  It's a bright idea that will help protect the environment and help Home Depot continue to grow and expand.

"As I have long said, CFLs save so much more money on electric bills than they cost to buy that consumers acting alone are going to drive the incandescent bulb nearly to extinction, saving us as a nation billions of dollars in energy costs and substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Some consumers have hesitated to buy CFLs because of limited recycling options.  While the City's Sanitation Department has always accepted CFLs at the special waste drop-off sites that operate weekly and New Yorkers can also seal used CFLs in plastic bags within their ordinary household trash, Home Depot's new drop-off locations will be available every day from early morning until late at night, at multiple locations in every borough.  As public budgets grow increasingly tighter, this is a particularly welcome private sector initiative that will help us achieve our PlaNYC goals. 

"For all of our Administration's work to craft innovative solutions to longstanding problems within government, the private and non-profit sectors are often best positioned to adapt to the public's needs.  That is why we have worked to develop public-private partnerships that allow the city's many dynamic organizations and institutions to play a leading role in one of the great challenges of our time.  Home Depot's decision to expand recycling of CFLs, while offering substantial environmental benefits to the City and nation, will also bring customers who need replacement CFLs into their stores.  It's another great example of how doing right by the environment can improve a company's bottom line.  We applaud Home Depot for their leadership and hope that other companies, large and small, will follow their lead."