Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW)
Leftover paint, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizer, and other household hazardous wastes can be hazardous, and should never be disposed of through your drains! These chemicals are difficult and expensive to remove from the water and could damage your pipes.
These wastes can be corrosive, toxic, and dangerous to your pipes. Additionally, these items become extremely difficult to remove at the Wastewater Treatment Plants and can cause additional contamination of our lakes and streams.
Defend Your Drains!
Take your household hazardous wastes to a collection center.
These items need to be carefully and properly disposed of to maintain a safe and healthy home and environment. Check with your city to see where you can take these materials. Some cities even offer a curbside HHW pickup service. Visit www.timetorecycle.com to find facilities near you!
For leftover paint, you can look for a hardware store, or nonprofit such as Habitat for Humanity or PaintCare that accepts leftover paint for reuse or recycling.
There is not a straightforward answer for this question.
For small amounts of leftover latex paint, you can allow it to dry in the can and then put the can in the trash. Oil based paint and paint remover should not be placed in the trash.
Pesticides, insecticides, herbicides (weed killer), and fertilizers are also considered hazardous wastes and should not be placed in your general trash. These substances can still potentially get washed into our waterways from the landfill so it is best to take them to a hazardous waste collection facility for proper disposal.
Easy steps to Defend Your Drains
By practicing these three simple actions, you can prevent grease clogs and help protect our water quality.
Use a paper towel to wipe greasy pots, pans, and plates before placing them in the dish washer or washing them in the sink. When you do hand wash greasy kitchen ware, be sure to use COLD water so that even the small amounts of fats, oils, or grease don't get a chance to cling to pipes before hardening.
You can collect your used cooking oil in a sealable container with a screw top lid and then take it to one of the regional drop-off locations so we can collect and recycle the used cooking oil.
It's a win-win!
The toilet should only be used for three things; Pee, Poop, and toilet Paper.
Wipes - even "flushable" wipes - belong in the trash and should not be flushed down your toilet.