Garbage is garbage, right? Wrong. You shouldn’t throw out some types of household trash with the usual kitchen scraps. Landfills may seem like massive holes where we can shovel in our stuff, cover it up, and walk away, but even garbage dumps have standards. Certain kinds of trash can hurt the environment, cause fires and explosions, and worse. Here are four special types of trash you can’t just throw away.
Paints and Painting Supplies
Painting makes our homes neater and prettier. After that, it just leaves a big mess to deal with. Don’t throw away wet paint of any kind. Instead, fill latex paint cans with kitty litter to absorb the paint before you toss it. Oil-based paints, turpentine, thinners, solvents, and other chemicals that aid in decorating need to stay out of landfills. Otherwise, they can separate and leach into the surrounding soil and water, rendering them unhealthy and unusable. See if your town has a means for safe paint product disposal or try to donate the excess to charitable organizations that build homes or need decorating materials.
Pesticides and Similar Products
We don’t want pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and similar chemicals that kill off vermin and weeds from entering the ecosystem. Never pour pesticides and similar chemicals down a sink drain, toilet, or sewer. Don’t toss them in with the regular trash, either. Be sure to use up the product and then seal the bottle or can before throwing it away. Aerosol cans are a universal waste that requires special disposal. Whether they contain pesticides or any other product, use it up, then arrange to have the can punctured elsewhere and recycled.
Vehicle Products
Cars and trucks are wonderful devices, but they generate noxious exhaust and all sorts of dangerous waste products that are toxic, flammable, and corrosive. If you change your own motor oil, collect the used oil and transport it to a local garage or store that offers car services. They often have oil recycling programs in effect that safely decontaminate used oil. Batteries are another car byproduct that you can’t leave out for the trash collectors. Car garages and auto supply stores often accept used car and truck batteries at no cost.
Expired Drugs
The final type of trash you can’t just throw away is health-care-related waste. It comes in many forms and with different degrees of danger. You should never throw out old pills and other medications since children and other individuals picking through trash might try them. They can poison the water supply and hurt marine life as well. Most towns, police departments, and pharmacies offer programs where they accept old medications for safe disposal. Leave it to the experts!
And of course, if you have the means to compost and recycle, then it’s best to do so as much as possible. Here in our city, we have a city-wide recycling and composting truck that comes around every week making it really easy for us to reduce our waste.