Take advantage of waste day

I was searching through cupboards on Sunday looking for a gardening tool when I happened on some outdoor paint I had purchased to paint a fence more than 20 years ago.
After we put the treated wood fence up, my wife and I decided the green was far more appropriate that grey.
As such, the four gallons of grey paint were put up on the shelf. And I hadn’t given them any thought until yesterday. The cans are now starting to rust and it is time to get rid of the paint.
Thankfully on May 8, the Rainy River District is hosting a household hazardous waste program to which I can bring the cans of paint and see them disposed.
After finding those cans, I also realized I had other paint cans that have been collecting dust for almost as long. When we first moved into our house, we painted our bedroom an almost ginger-orange. It was a pretty startling colour.
It stayed on the walls until it was covered over by a dark forest green. This year we painted again. We found the ginger-orange and the forest green.
A new colour was chosen and now those old half-empty cans of paint also will make it to the hazardous waste day.
Last year I looked at the expiry date on a barbecue propane cylinder and it, too, has passed. It sits at the back door of the house. It is empty.
Over time to bring my lawn and gardens to a lush weedless state, I have acquired many pesticides and herbicides. Some I know now are no longer available for sale in gardening stores, having been declared too dangerous to use.
As I rummaged about the garage and basement, I also found some outboard motor oil that must be 10 years old. I don’t know if it is still usable. I also found a part litre of engine oil for a vehicle I haven’t owned since 1992.
There also was a can of WD40 that has lost the spray nozzle, and can’t be used, but sits on the shelf. There are two old metal outboard gas cans in the garage. They are not used, either.
I discovered I am a pack rat with all of these products that I really won’t use.
At the time, I probably thought I should hold on to them because you never know when you might need that bit of oil or pesticide, or paint to touch up a scuff on a wall. I never did use them.
It is amazing how we collect hazardous products. When used properly, they can liven and protect our homes and properties. But when they are disposed in an unsafe manner, we endanger our environment and water sources.
It hasn’t taken long to build a list of products I will take to the Public Works building in Fort Frances, which includes old gas cans, propane tanks, paint, and garden chemicals. It is long overdue.
The Township of Chapple also will be part of this year’s Household Hazardous Waste Day.
What hazardous products do you have in your house that would make your household safer it they were not present?

Posted in Uncategorized