Going Green: A Bright Idea

The UALR bulb eater is a lamp crushing machine.

Vince Rodgers with UALR says there's a lot that goes into disposing fluorescent lamps.

"There are elements in the bulbs such as, aluminium, mercury and phosphor powders that would go into the landfill."

Until recently the physical plant at UALR boxed and shipped old fluorescent lamps to be recycled.

Now, those lamps are sent down a tube.

The bulb eater crushes the blown out lamps and consolidates the waste.

Rodgers says the machine is a win win situation.

"It's good for the environment and it's good for us. It does two things, it saves space rather than keeping these boxes around and it saves money."

UALR purchased the bulb eater for around $3,600. The machine alone will save the university $20,000 a year.

Rodgers says it's also a time-saver.

"It will take 1 minute to recycle bulbs versus boxing that takes upwards of an hour."

UALR student Simone Lewis likes the bulb eater idea.

"I think it's awesome that our generation can change the movement. It's just amazing that they say young people are the future and we're doing something about it."

It's a simple concept that's making quite a bit of noise.

Lewis says she's proud of her university.

"It's getting our name out there and we're just doing something to help our environment. I don't know how many other campuses are doing that," says Lewis.

UALR also held other events around campus today. Tire pressure checks and electronic recycling are all a part of the earth day events.