What would you do if you dropped a fluorescent light bulb and it shattered? Your instinct might be to immediately grab the broom and dust pan (or the vacuum), clean it up and toss it in the trash.

But CFLs and other fluorescent lights contain a small amount of mercury, which means you have to take precautions to avoid mercury exposure to yourself and the environment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a list of very specific steps you’re supposed to take to avoid mercury exposure if a CFL breaks. There’s no clean up list for LED lighting because it doesn’t contain toxic mercury.

The CFL cleanup list includes separate steps for a broken bulb on hard surfaces, carpeting and even bedding. And while each list has slightly different steps, the theme is pretty much always the same: Air out the room, put all debris in a glass jar with a metal lid and check with local government to see if there are any additional disposal requirements.

In one scene, grandma shows off how happy she is with CFLs. This is before she finds out about the EPA recommended cleanup steps.

While working on this darling video “Grandma Tries CFLs” I called the local household hazardous waste office. I asked the woman who answered what I should do with the debris from a broken CFL, adding that I followed all of the EPA’s cleanup steps. No joke, the woman told me she didn’t know what a CFL was. She transferred me to a manager who advised that if I had followed the EPA’s cleanup steps and sealed all materials, I didn’t need to take any extra steps of disposal.

It just goes to show that plenty of people don’t know that CFLs and other fluorescent bulbs shouldn’t just go in the trash. (Also once a CFL burns out, don’t just trash it, find a local collection site).

So we decided to have some fun and make an in-house video showing off the numerous steps you should take to clean up a broken CFL. And, for the record, we didn’t actually break a CFL in the video. A broken incandescent played the role.

So join “grandma” as she learns what to do if her shaky hands make her lose her grip on a CFL. Good thing her grandson was around to teach her the EPA’s proper clean up steps. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll probably never want to break a fluorescent light bulb.

Special thanks to The Apartments at the Arboretum in Cary, NC, which allowed me to get my Steven Spielberg on and create this video masterpiece:

And while CFLs are energy efficient, many LED lights are even more efficient and deliver better quality light. So take a cue from our grandson and help spread the word about the LED lighting revolution to your family, friends, coworkers and anyone who will listen. Heck you can even try to win 5 Cree CR6 LED downlights of your own in our monthly photo contest.