(NC)—While many Canadians have switched to environmentally preferred transportation alternatives and are drinking from eco-friendly water canteens, Canadian families and businesses should also be considering the environmental implications of their everyday behaviours within their homes and offices. Something as small as a thermostat can have a negative environmental impact if it is not disposed of properly due to the highly toxic levels of mercury contained within some of these units.

Mercury is a potent and hazardous neurotoxin, which is dangerous to the health of people and wildlife. Older mechanical thermostats can have one to four mercury switches, each containing approximately 2.5 grams of mercury. Just one gram of mercury is enough to contaminate an eight-hectare lake to the point where the fish in that lake are inedible for one full year.

A mercury-containing thermostat is not a direct threat to your health and safety as long as the glass housing for the mercury switch is intact. The risk to the environment and human health comes when end-of-life mercury thermostats are not disposed of responsibly. If an old thermostat is thrown out with regular household or business waste, the mercury ends up in landfill and contaminates our soil water.

In order to prevent mercury-containing thermostats from causing distress to the environment, The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) has developed a thermostat recovery program called Switch the 'Stat to encourage Canadians to replace their old thermostats with energy-efficient, programmable units to help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, while ensuring that their old devices do not end up in landfills.

Together with their network of registered contractors and wholesalers, HRAI ensures that old thermostats are properly disposed of to keep mercury from leaking into our environment.

Since the program's inception in 2006, Switch the 'Stat has recovered more than 45,000 mercury-containing thermostats, which contained over 71,000 mercury switches.

The mercury reclaimed to date would have been more than enough to contaminate all the fish in some of Canada's favourite lakes including Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Kootenay Lake in British Columbia and Lake Manitoba.

You can find a technician in your area who can help ensure your thermostat is responsibly recycled online at www.switchthestat.ca.