Common Recycling and Disposal Questions
IEPA Household Hazardous Waste Management Unit Information:
1. The easiest way to dispose of old paint is to use it up completely.
If you still have paint leftover, then keep painting. You can pain something else that doesn't even have to need the paint, such as an old piece of cardboard, scrap lumber, or even the inside of your garage. This works well if you have a small amount left in the can. Afterwards, let the can dry out and dispose of it with your regular household trash.
2. Or you can use the Ultimate Kitty Litter Paint Disposal Method:
Determine if the paint is still liquefied. If it's completely dried out, you may place the lid back on and dispose of it with your regular trash. If it's liquid then do the following:
a. Buy a cheap bag of cat litter. Pour it into the liquid paint in the paint can.
b.Then, wait for the cat litter and paint mixture to solidify - if the paint is oil or solvent based, make sure you're in a well ventilated area away from ignition sources. Once the paint is completely absorbed by the cat litter.....
c.Place the lids back on the cans and mix with your regular trash, or leave the lids off the cans at the curb so the hauler can see that it's all dried up - your waste hauler will take it from there!
If you don’t want to do the above two ideas, then you can wait for Madison County to hold their annual Household Hazardous Waste Drive, TBA. Call their office for updates on when and where that will be: 618-296-6647.
Rewind Your Wine
Wine-lovers have only five choices
when deciding what to do with the 15 billion wine corks that end up in landfills
each year: continue to throw them away, get crafty, buy only screw-cap bottles,
don’t drink as much wine, or recycle the. A couple of years ago, the
Fredericktown, Mo.-based company Yemm & Hart started a mail-in recycling program
that recycles wine corks into LEED-certified building materials like cork tiles.
Great idea!
But while we have green intentions, we still have a huge jar full of corks.
Thankfully, local marketing firm Cork Tree Creative just made it easier. The
Edwardsville company collects corks from
retailers, grocers and wine consumers and sends them off to Yemm & Hart as part
of a new program called Rewind your Wine. Organizers hope that recycling wine
corks, including those plastic ones, will be as simple as recycling paper and
plastics. Erato on Main in Edwardsville and St. Louis-based Ionia Atlantic
Imports are on board, as are Kirkwood’s Grapevine Wines and Madinger Wines.
So next time you’re at a tasting or buying a
bottle of wine from your favorite shop, encourage participation.
Sauce pick: Rewind Your Wine
Info: Bars, restaurants and wine
retailers throughout the St. Louis area interested in participating in the
program should call Laura Reed at Cork Tree Creative at 618.656.7333. For
consumer drop-off locations, visit www.rewindyourwine.com
for more information.
CFLs should be disposed of properly with other household hazardous waste products such as paint, batteries and thermostats. Please avoid throwing out spent CFLs in the household trash. They contain electronic components and an extremely small amount of mercury. The amount of mercury is so small that it does not pose a health risk to you or your family. However, we are working to keep large accumulations of CFLs out of the landfills. Be sure to follow the proper disposal options described below:
•
Check with your local or municipal government entity responsible for solid waste or household hazardous waste collection. Some communities offer disposal or recycling programs that accept spent CFLs. You can also visit www.lamprecycle.org to research your state’s disposal laws and recycling programs.Take them to Office Depot in Alton or Edwardsville for free!
• To reduce the risk of bulb breakage and contamination, wrap the bulb in a sealed plastic bag.
• Never incinerate CFLs.
• If your ENERGY STAR-qualified bulb fails within the one-year warranty period, return it to the place of purchase for a replacement bulb, and fill out a CFL failure card.
What is mercury?
Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is present throughout the environment. Human activity can release some of that mercury into the air, water and soil. In the U.S., coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of mercury emissions to the air. When mercury enters water, biological processes transform it to a highly toxic form that builds up in fish and animals that eat fish. Repeated exposure to large quantities of mercury represents the biggest risk to humans, especially for children and women of childbearing age. People are exposed to mercury primarily by eating contaminated fish.
Because CFLs contain mercury, is it better for the environment to use incandescent bulbs?
No – you need to consider the broader perspective of the energy savings compared to the impacts of energy generation. Using energy-efficient products, like CFLs, is one way to curb our regions growing energy demands. Experts agree that given a choice between CFLs and ordinary incandescent bulbs, CFLs are better for you and the environment because they save money, conserve energy and reduce landfill waste and coal-fired power plant emissions.
Electronic Recycling is becoming more necessary, as Electronic waste is the fastest growing part of the solid waste stream. TVs, computers, monitors, cell phones and other electronic equipment contain lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic materials. Only about 12 percent of e-waste is recycled nationwide. The rest ends up in landfills. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, even the tiniest amount of toxics leaking from a landfill can badly pollute our drinking water supplies. Out of 2.6 million tons of obsolete electronics, or E-Waste, generated in the U.S. in 2005, only 330,000 tons were recycled. Yet the state and local counties hold few (if any) events each year, forcing the non-profit world to step up and offer recycling drives for residents. The Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club has held four events in 2009 and has not set a 2010 schedule yet.
Glass food and beverage containers (all colors – no lids)
#1-#5 & #7 plastics (numbers on the bottom of plastic containers – no lids)
coming soon!