Thermostats control your heater and your air conditioner in your home. When the temperature exceeds a certain level that you set, either the heater goes on or the air conditioner goes on, thus keeping your home nice and cozy.

Thermostats have historically operated relying on mercury. This is the same mercury that is found in thermometers. The mercury expands once it is heated and thus triggers a mechanical reaction which in turn, turns on your appliance.

The mercury that has long made thermostats work is the same mercury that is finding itself into our food chain and causing a myriad of problems. For this reason, you should never throw out an old thermostat. Recycle it instead. This is very important.

Most people toss old mercury containing thermostats in the trash. From there, it either goes to a landfill or an incinerator. And in either event, the mercury ends up being released into our environment. The one thing none of us needs is more inappropriately disposed of mercury in our ground, our water, or our air. And by recycling instead of disposing, you can help stop this chain reaction.

Contact your local Health Department or Environmental Agency to find out what kind of recycling program is available in order to properly dispose of mercury containing thermostats. Many government agencies have active mercury recycling programs. In fact, every government needs to start such a program.

Portland, Maine, has a thermostat-recycling program that needs some help. Recently, the government reported that its thermostat-recycling program was not meeting expectations. Only 2% of the thermostats that are being disposed of are recycled in accordance with the new program.

The City is actively looking for ways to increase participation in the program and will consider both a public education program as well as extending the number of receptacles that are available throughout Portland to accept abandoned thermostats.

It is important for local and state governments to establish mercury-recycling programs and to take measures so as to ensure that the public is aware of these programs. These programs need to be user friendly because experience suggests that recycling programs that contain too many obstacles tend to be less successful.

The good news is that mercury-free thermostats are now available and people are buying them. Electronic mercury- free thermostats are really a much better alternative to thermostats that contain mercury. They can be preprogrammed, they avoid the mercury disposal issue, and in general they are very environmentally efficient.

Some utilities throughout the United States are offering free programmable thermostats to replace old ones. Where those programs are not available they can be purchased for a reasonable cost.

Mercury is becoming a bigger and bigger health issue in all of North America. Did you ever dream that the healthful value of tuna would ever be in question? We need to start taking this issue very seriously.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.