Household Items You Shouldn’t Throw in the Trash
A generation or two ago, most people just threw something away when they were done with it. You finished work on your house and tossed the paint in trash cans or cast old batteries in the bin. No one gave much thought to what would happen to that trash once it hit the curb for the sanitation service to pick up.
In the 21st century, though, we are much more environmentally conscious. This doesn’t just mean tree-huggers, either. As we’ve learned more about hazardous wastes, we’ve learned about the dangers of throwing some things in the trash.
There are items we should never put out for residential trash collection. For example, you should never put prescription drugs, motor oil, electronics, or batteries in the trash. You also need to know what you’re supposed to do with refuse if you can’t throw it away.
Let’s look at things we shouldn’t put out on the curb on garbage day and what to do with them instead.
Chemicals, Batteries, and Electronics
Most of the things you shouldn’t put in household trash appear on the list because they contain chemicals, batteries, or electronics. When you can recycle, you absolutely should.
But you may find yourself with some items WIN Waste Innovations can’t accept in its curbside recycling program.
Since electronics often contain batteries. These often contain chemicals, so there’s a lot of overlap. But if you can keep these three things in mind when deciding what to put in your trash can, you’ll avoid throwing away many things you shouldn’t.
Chemicals in the Trash
Chemicals pose the biggest danger to the environment, groundwater, and even sanitation workers are forced to handle them when you casually toss them in the trash. Some things can't be thrown out even if you’re using a roll-off service.
#I. Motor Oil in the Trash
Never throw oil in the trash. It only takes a little oil to contaminate a lot of water. One pint of oil can create a one-acre oil slick on water. Birds and marine life can get covered and/or poisoned by that slick, which can seriously impede sunlight flowing into a body of water. Without sunlight, underwater organisms die.
Contact a local oil change establishment or automotive garage if you are a DIY oil changer before throwing oil in the trash. They may be willing to take the old oil off your hands. Failing that, locate your local hazardous waste collection site. You can find yours by visiting your city, county, or Ohio’s state government website.
Just like you know you have to take large trash items like furniture to a transfer station, you also need to be aware that chemical waste has its own disposal procedure.
#II. Prescription Drugs in the Trash
The best thing to do with your prescription drugs is to take their full course. Realistically, though, we all have found ourselves with leftover meds that we don’t need or have expired.
The safest way to dispose of unused meds is to take them to a drug take-back location or event. You can find one near you by contacting your local health department. Some cities have permanent spots where you can take your unused meds, or you may need to rely on pop-up-style events.
If you can’t get to a take-back spot in time or at all, the Food and Drug Administration recommends two options:
Flush them down the toilet. This solution applies only to a small list of drugs the FDA has on its flush list. If the drug in question isn’t on that list, it’s not safe to flush it.
Mix them with something gross and seal them up. Place used coffee grounds or kitty litter in a plastic bag with the meds, seal the bag, and throw it away.
#III. Paint in the Trash
Oh, the chemicals! Never throw latex and oil paint in trash bins. They contain all manner of solvents and chemicals that can cause serious damage to the water in your area. Pouring paints down your sink or into the storm drain is not only dangerous; it’s illegal in a lot of places.
The best thing to do with any products of this kind is to recycle them. Habitat for Humanity, for example, has ReStore locations where you can donate all types of building materials. It’s a two-birds thing because you get rid of your paint safely, and someone else who can use that leftover paint can get their hands on it.
If that’s not an option, there are steps to take before throwing paint in trash cans. With latex paint, you can leave the can open and let the paint harden and dry. Only after it’s completely dry and is as hard as a hockey puck can you throw paint in trash piles.
But those paint cans are recyclable, so you might consider putting the paint in another receptacle to dry and take the cans for recycling.
#IV. Anything that ends in “-cide”
Herbicides kill organic plant life. If you pour them down the drain or throw them in the trash where they can leak into groundwater, you’re causing catastrophic damage to your environment.
Since the “-cide” suffix indicates killing, all of it should be considered dangerous and need proper disposal at a hazardous waste collection spot.
Other household chemicals that don’t end in “-cide” can be equally poisonous. Anti-freeze, two-cycle oil, other petroleum products, and some harsher cleaning products should go to hazardous waste.
#V. Other substances
If it’s got mercury in it, it’s potentially very dangerous. Many of us had our temperatures taken with glass mercury thermometers when we were kids. If those are still around, putting them in the trash means almost certainly breaking them.
Flammable substances need proper disposal, too. Fire can injure sanitation workers, damage equipment, or create an environmental disaster at a landfill.
Batteries in the Trash
While they seem like tiny miracles, batteries work on science, like everything else. They get their power from chemical reactions, which means that they have chemicals in them, and throwing batteries in the trash can create the same problems discussed above.
Newer batteries, like cell phone power supplies, can also cause fires.
These dangers apply to single-use and rechargeable batteries, so never put batteries in the trash. Their heavy metals can be hazardous to human health and the environment.
Past that, many batteries contain rarer materials that need to be recycled.
Some recycling centers specify that they will take batteries, but don’t assume. Check with them first. If that’s not an option, we fall back to the catch-all, the local hazardous waste collection center.
Electronics in the Trash
In addition to the plastics in most electronics, we can also recycle the metals and minerals in them. Since all the earth’s resources are finite, recycling helps everyone, especially when it comes to rarer elements like gold and cadmium.
The Environmental Protection Agency says that for every one million cell phones that get recycled, nearly 18 tons of copper get recovered—more than 30,000 pounds of copper doesn’t need to be newly mined.
Other metals, like palladium, can be highly toxic, so throwing them in the trash is not an option.
Some electronics retailers offer take-back programs, many cell phone companies will take your phone as a trade-in, and various electronics brands offer disposal options and services.
The Pick-Up: Mind Your Trash
Your egg cartons, the cellophane wrap around that box of tea bags, a broken toy lightsaber— these can all go in the trash to be picked up curbside. But we all deal with items daily that need proper disposal.
However, you should never throw chemicals, electronics, oil, batteries, or paint oil in the trash. If you have questions about what’s appropriate, contact us today. Our team is ready to answer your questions, and help you determine the best course of action for any of your disposal needs.