The Senior Scene

Washington residents can now recycle fluorescent lights and other mercury-containing lights for free at 130 sites throughout the state (including King, Kitsap and Pierce counties), with more being added in the months ahead.
LightRecycle Washington collection sites will take traditional fluorescent tubes (including straight, curved and circular tubes), the twisty compact fluorescent lights and high intensity discharge lights, which are commonly used in outdoor lighting fixtures. The program does not accept lighting fixtures or ballasts.
Both individuals and businesses can drop off lights for recycling, although there is a limit of 10 lights per day. Visit www.lightrecyclewa.org to find a collection site near you. Locations are available in Pierce, King and Kitsap counties.
“Fluorescent lights are long-lasting and energy efficient, but they contain small amounts of toxic mercury, which needs to be recycled or properly disposed of,” said Laurie Davies, manager of Ecology’s Waste 2 Resources program. “With the launch of LightRecycle Washington, we’re making it easier to comply with the law and protect the environment.”
Since 2010, it has been illegal in Washington to dispose of mercury-containing lights in the regular garbage. This new program, funded by a 25-cent environmental handling charge on each new mercury-containing light sold at retail, makes it simple to recycle old lights.
EcoLights Northwest, located in Seattle, is the recycling company that will process the lights collected by LightRecycle Washington. After mercury-containing lights are collected, EcoLights breaks them down and then recyclable components, including mercury, are refined and reused.
“We started recycling lights back in 1996,” said Craig Lorch, co-owner of EcoLights, “but until now, many residents and small businesses have had a difficult time finding a convenient and inexpensive way to recycle fluorescent lights. This program will make it easy to recycle mercury-containing lights anywhere in Washington state.”
LightRecycle Washington is run by the nonprofit PCA Product Stewardship Inc., working with retailers, lighting manufacturers, municipal waste facilities and Ecology.

Transportation options in Pierce County and regionally are what the Travel Ambassador program is all about.
Travel Ambassador, developed by Catholic Community Services, provides information on transportation options for elders, individuals with disabilities, students, and other community members who face barriers to transportation.
Presenters at a recent seminar in Lakewood included representatives of transportation agencies and services that coordinate transportation. Topics to be covered included:
• How to take a bus and get route-planning locally and regionally.
• The ORCA card –what it is and how to use it.
• Volunteer driver transportation services in Pierce County.
• How to get a “Bus Buddy” for one-to-one help with using the bus.
• Medicaid Paratransit service and Shuttle service, and who is eligible for them.
• Beyond the Borders, a free transportation service in rural areas of Pierce County.
• Puget Sound Educational Services District Work First transportation.
• United Way’s 2-1-1 travel information service.
CCS and other transportation-related agencies and businesses educate the public on transportation as members of the Pierce County Coordinated Transportation Coalition. An offshoot is the Travel Ambassador program, which was created to provide user-friendly information for customers, social service organizations and non-profit agencies about transportation that’s available to low-income workers, people with disabilities and seniors.
According to the coalition, a lack of transportation can diminish a person’s self-sufficiency. In particular, access to transportation is critical for senior citizens to maintain physical, social, economic and psychological well-being.

Starting Feb. 1, AARP Foundation will again provide free tax preparation and electronic filing at sites throughout the state. AARP Tax-Aide is totally free, and you don’t need to be a member of AARP or a retiree to use this free service.
2014 tax returns reflect a change as the result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And for those who did not have medical insurance coverage the entire year or who purchased insurance through the Washington State Health Plan Exchange, there will be some new tax forms to deal with when filing 2014 tax returns. AARP Tax-Aide will have tax counselors who are trained to help tackle your ACA tax return questions.
Whether you are a working or retired individual, AARP’s IRS tax-certified volunteer preparers can handle your tax returns. In addition to earned and retirement income reporting, we can help you with your investment income (interests, dividends, and capital gains for Schedule D), Schedule C for individuals with small businesses that have less than $10,000 in annual expenses, and various education, child and earned income credits.
Taxpayers utilizing the free service can receive their tax refunds rather quickly, as all AARP Tax-Aide sites will be using electronic filing.
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, in its 46th year and offered in conjunction with the IRS, is the nation’s largest free tax-assistance and preparation service, giving special attention to those 60 and older. Since 1968, AARP Foundation’s volunteer-based Tax-Aide program has helped nearly 50 million low to moderate income taxpayers. The program has over 35,000 volunteers and 6,000 sites across the country. In Washington alone last year, more than 1,000 Tax-Aide volunteers helped about 78,000 taxpayers get more than $52 million in refunds.
For more information and to locate an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide site near you, visit www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888-227-7669).

Janet Lam-Rogers wrote this article. She is an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteer.

Resolve to save in 2015. That’s the word from the National Council on Aging, which urges people living on a fixed income to start the new year right with an online checkup.

On BenefitsCheckUp, find and apply for benefits to help pay for everyday expenses. On EconomicCheckUp, discover how to make and stick to a budget, keep scammers away, and get retrained for a new job. Both sites are free, confidential, and from NCOA.

For more, go online at benefitscheckup.org or ncoa.org.