Throwing away toxic chemicals with the regular garbage or placing them in storm drains harms the environment, pollutes the water supply, and violates the law. Call your city or county refuse collector to learn how to properly dispose of all hazardous waste products.

In our homes we use many chemicals. Since we are able to obtain them easily at the grocery store or the home improvement center, we tend not to think of them as dangerous or harmful to the environment. The fact is, they are harmful. When many of us carelessly throw away containers with products still in them, such as paint, cleaning fluids, pesticides, herbicides, motor oil, and other chemicals, we run the risk of hazardous wastes reaching the landfill and leaching out into the environment. There they act as deadly poisons threatening our water supply, agricultural crops, livestock, natural vegetation, and wildlife. These substances can also end up in storm drains, going directly to the ocean when people illegally dump at the curb side. Even household batteries leak toxic substances!

 

Motor oil is a hazardous waste and should be disposed properly at a facility which safely collects all toxic household waste products. Dumping hazardous waste into storm drains or onto the ground, or mixing it in with the regular garbage is illegal and punishable by a monetary fine.

 

 

What can be done about this? The first thing is to inventory your house and garage and identify hazardous materials of which you would like to dispose. Secondly, phone your local city, county, or sanitation district to find out when the next FREE Household Hazardous Waste Collection is scheduled and where it will be held.

Some cities, like the City of La Puente, California, have a Household Battery Recycling Program. In this city, community members can drop off old batteries at the Community Center, the Senior Center, or at City Hall. Check with your city to find out if there is a Household Battery Recycling Program.

Students can use the following Hazardous Waste Inventory as a homework project and assist their families in keeping the environment free of toxic substances.