As I’m sitting down to write this entry, I have a little ditty playing in my head: “Always look on the bright side of life / Always look on the light side of life.” I guess it’s only fitting that my topic this week is compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs.

You’ve probably heard that on average, CFLs use between 66 percent and 75 percent less energy than the old standby incandescent bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer. Sure, they cost more, but if you use them in the five lamps/lights you use the most, you can save more than $50 on your energy bill each year. And who doesn’t want to save money?

What you might not know is that each CFL contains a small amount of mercury, which means you can’t just throw the spent bulb away. Mercury is a toxin that’s tough to clean up, so the last thing you should do is send it to the landfill. It needs to be disposed of properly.

Contact your local recycling center to see if they’ll take your spent CFLs (you can’t just put them in with your recyclables). I went to www.earth911.org to find out what my options are, and discovered that my local Home Depot store will take them, no questions asked, even if I didn’t buy them there. In fact, there’s an in-store consumer CFL recycling/disposal box at every Home Depot location in the United States and Canada. It’s free and convenient, which totally works for me.

CFLs are one way to save money and help the environment. Do you have any other Green money-saving ideas you’d like to share?

Katherine
Delta Sky

A half-century ago, Pan American World Airways introduced the first U.S. commercial jet service on October 26, 1958.  That first flight traveled New York-Paris, and carried 111 passengers, the largest number ever to board a regularly-scheduled flight at that time.  Coach fares were $272, about the same as piston-engine flights across the Atlantic.  To ”experience” the glamour of 707 jet service, see this Pan Am film on YouTube.

The flight was not non-stop.  The jet N711PA “Clipper Mayflower” stopped in Newfoundland, because it was a domestic version of the Boeing 707.  The longer range 707-320 Intercontinental version was delivered to Pan Am in 1959.

This Pan Am 707-120 photo is shared by Mike Machat, artist of Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft.  His father took the photo from the observation deck atop the IAB at Idlewild Airport on Saturday, October 4, 1958.  He writes: “Just out of frame in the foreground was the pristine BOAC Comet 4 that had just landed after completing the world’s first transatlantic commercial passenger jet service from London.  Pan Am was to begin flights from New York to Paris two weeks later on October 26th, but Juan Trippe was not about to let BOAC steal the march, and had the larger and more impressive 707 waiting at the adjoining gate when the Comet pulled in.”

Pam Am went on to set many standards of service in the new Jet Age, with its extensive routes, catchy advertising and onboard luxuries.  Delta acquired Pan Am’s Atlantic routes in 1991.

Thank you to Mike Machat and Dr. Charles Quarles for inspiring this post.

Marie Force
Archives Manager

Are you flying to: ABQ, ATL, BWI, ORD, CVG, CLE, DEN, RSW, FLL, LAX, MIA, JFK, LGA, PDX, RDU, SMF, SLC, SFO, SEA, TPA or DCA in the near future?

If you are on a domestic flight into one of these cities, chances are you’ll see our In-Flight Recycling program in action. The program expanded by leaps and bounds in 2008 and has collected over 500,000 pounds of plastics, paper and aluminum since January.

In September, flight attendants, cabin service crews and catering partners joined forces to help construct our first EarthCraft style Habitat for Humanity Home fully funded by in-flight recycling. It was an amazing opportunity for all organizations to actually see and touch the end result of their recycling efforts. Delta has made it’s recycling program a win win for the company, the environment and the communities we serve.

Factoid: Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours.

Do you recycle onboard?

Jennifer O.
Project Manager
Environmental Health