Household Waste Disposal
Household Waste Disposal | Learn how treat household waste by recycling in the home, having a green garage and proper disposal methods.
The typical American household can contain between 100 and 200 chemical products for cleaning, painting and lubricating. Learning about green Household Waste Disposal will protect our natural resources and promote a healthier lifestyle for our children, grandchildren and beyond.
This is the first and obviously the most preferred option. All products destined for your waste pile should pass the reuse and recycle test first. Here are a few options for you to consider in reuse:
Can non-profit organizations use anything you are tossing? You would be surprised what materials these agencies will accept. I have given away what I thought was junk to Habit or Goodwill and then found out that they give me a great donation tax credit on top of it.
Some things to consider:
- Old tools Scraps of lumber
- Old paint and thinners etc.
- Paper products
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Kitchen utensils
- Batteries
Many items may be flushed down your drains if so noted in the Disposal Options Tables below. You should take a couple of precautions before you make this a habit though.
Be sure to check with your local city, county or state officials if this practice is suitable in your area. Some products cannot be broken down by the utilities wastewater facilities and you should therefore avoid flushing these products.
Municipal Sewer Systems:
All of your sanitary sewer or waste water piping flows to mains in the street. From there they lead to larger mains until they reach the wastewater treatment facility.
Depending of the level of treatment your municipality chooses to use, some pollutants will remain to be discharged into lakes rivers or streams.
Some pollutants such as pesticides or metals will contain residue that will be discharged, so be careful with these products.
Septic Tanks:
Usually in more rural areas, septic tanks and drainfields are the norm for disposing of our wastewater. The septic tank acts like a mini-wastewater treatment plant and depends on microorganisms to break down the solids in your tank.
The resulting water will flow into a drainfield of perforated pipes with clean gravel and sand or into a drainage lagoon for evaporation.
This system works extremely well as long as the micro-organisms do their job. Any products that are not broken down can possibly pass through the septic tank in seep into the ground, entering the ground water table.
We don't recommend that you use the flushing technique for private septic systems as once the bacteria has been killed in your septic tank, you need to recharge it.
This can be a nuisance and expensive. Give your products that are flushable to a friend or co-worker who is on a municipal sewer system.
Household Waste Disposal - Don't Drain Into Storm Drainage System
Storm Drain Systems:
These typically carry away rainwater from our roofs, walks and swales. Do NOT dump any of your household wastes into these areas or drains as they are most often carried away to be drained directly into a nearby lake, stream or river.
Some municipalities have what is called a combined system which combines the storm water and the wasterwater into one treatment process.
Check with your local authorities on this. Never flush any toxic wastes down a drain unless instructed by your local wastewater officials that you can do so.
Call your local municipality if you have any doubts about the materials to flush. It is best to flush when the system is carrying away wastewater at peak times. This would be between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm.
Limit quantities.
Do not flush everything at once to overload the system. Most rules of thumb dictate that you should limit the quantities of household waste disposal to one quart per day unless you are directed otherwise.
Use Large Quantities of Fresh Water:
Flush the product down with large quantities of fresh water to speed it through the piping system. The toilet is the preferred disposal device in lieu of the kitchen sink or lavatories. This minimizes the risk of contamination.
After you flush, flush 3 more times to give the material a good boost down the pipeline.
Equipment you will need:
Chemical resistant rubber gloves
Chemical splash goggles.
No children present please.
- Give additional thought to buying waste producing products. Is there a bio-degradable option available? If so, go that route.
- Buy only what you need. Don't purchase enough for several operations and wind up throwing most of it away.
- Follow storage and disposal recommendations of the container of the product.
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Keep all Household waste products in a locked cabinet, preferably in the garage and out of reach of your children.
- Locate recycle stations for bringing your engine oil, old batteries, antifreeze etc.
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Drain all of your containers. Thoroughly rinse out all containers of water soluble materials according to instructions of the container.
- Do not burn containers
- Do not dump anything in your yard
- Do not mix chemicals
- Do not put items containing heavy metals mercury, cadmium etc. such as batteries or mercury batteries in the trash.
- Do not permit wastes to enter unlicensed or unregulated landfills.
Just hover your mouse over each product below to view Household Waste Disposal Tables
- In The Bathroom:
- Cleaning Products:
- In The Garage and Garden:
- Garage Workshop Products:
- Miscellaneous Products:
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| Product | Flush | Trash | Recycle | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetics | • | |||
| Hair permanent lotions | • | |||
| Syringes | • | |||
| Prescription Medications | • | |||
| Nail Polish Remover | • | |||
| Nail Polish Hardened | • | |||
| After shave, perfume | • |
| Product | Flush | Trash | Recycle | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bleach Products | • | |||
| Disinfectant | • | |||
| Toilet Bowl Cleaner | • | |||
| Spot Removers | • | |||
| Oven Cleaner | • | |||
| Metal Cleaners | • | |||
| Drain Cleaners | • | |||
| Floor Wax Strippers | • | |||
| Glass Cleaners | • | |||
| Furniture Polish | • | |||
| Ammonia Products | • |
| Product | Flush | Trash | Recycle | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antifreeze | • | • | ||
| Auto Batteries | • | • | ||
| Brake Fluid | • | • | ||
| Degreasers | • | |||
| Diesel Fuel | • | • | ||
| Fertilizer, dry | ||||
| Gasoline | • | |||
| Kerosene | • | |||
| Motor Oil | • | |||
| Pesticides | • | |||
| Rat/Rodent Poison | • | |||
| Transmission Fluid | • | |||
| Weed Killers | • | |||
| Windshield Washer Fluids | • |
| Product | Flush | Trash | Recycle | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spackle, Glaze | • | |||
| Adhesive and Glue, Water Based | • | |||
| Adhesive and Glue, Solvent Based | • | |||
| Paint or Primer, Latex without Lead or Mercury | • | • | ||
| Paint or Primer, Latex with Lead or Mercury | • | |||
| Paint or Primer, Oil Based | • | • | ||
| Paint Thinner | • | • | ||
| Paint Remover and Stripper | • | |||
| Putty, Grout, Caulk | • | |||
| Rust Remover | • | |||
| Stain and Varnish | • | • | ||
| Wood Preservative | • |
| Product | Flush | Trash | Recycle | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition (Check with Law Enforcement) | ||||
| Artist and Hobby Paint | • | • | ||
| Batteries, Alkaline | • | |||
| Batteries, Ni-Cad or Button | • | • | ||
| Fabric Dye, Concentrate | • | |||
| Fireworks - Saturate in bathtub full of water | • | |||
| Fluorescent Bulbs, Tubs and Ballast | • | • | ||
| Mothballs | • | |||
| Swimming Pool Chemicals | • | |||
| Hot Tub Chemicals | • | |||
| Smoke Detector | • | |||
| Thermometer, Mercury | • |
