Recycling More
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 29 September 2009 — 6 comments below »
I have a pail in my garage filled with old light bulbs and dead batteries. Maybe you do too. Since we are not allowed to throw this stuff out with the garbage anymore (by any measure, a good thing), we have to drop-off at the household hazardous waste facility in Richmond (101 Pittsburg Avenue off Richmond Parkway). Unfortunately, you will have to mark your calendar, as their scheduled hours are not easy to remember…
The West County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility is open Thursdays, Fridays and the first Saturday of every month. Hours of operation are from 9am-4pm (closed Noon to 12:30 p.m. for lunch).
The facility accepts the following items considered household hazardous waste…
- Home use medical syringes
- Paint
- Solvents & Thinners
- Gas BBQ Cylinders (less than 5 gallons)
- Used Motor Oil & Filters
- Expired medications
- Household Batteries
- Pesticides
- Aerosols
- Fertilizers
- Car Batteries
- Adhesives
- Poisons
- Photo Chemicals
- Anti-Freeze
- Asbestos
- Cathode-Ray Tubes (CRT’s) including computer monitors and TV’s
- Fats, Oil and Grease
Although they are not listed, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are apparently accepted at the facility (along with Home Depot). In the meantime, be sure to keep your asbestos out of the trash can.
Jeff, thanks for this, a great reminder about recycling and how to dispose of toxic materials. …
Mr. Jeff,
I cannot say how greatly I appreciate your Public Service Announcement (PSA, broadcast acronym) on the subject of responsible disposal of our own toxic waste. With the idealistic, wide eyes of a young adult, I enlisted in the ‘nurture Mother Earth’ revolution in 1970 when I set up my first household. Following quality education and awareness gleaned from my activism in the City of Modesto’s ‘Green Initiative’ model that garnered nationally-recognized distinctions. I never looked-back. I instructed my only child and her playmates, my neighbors. I rabidly model and teach these skills everyday and everywhere I go.
May I urge all in our Waterfront Village to begin the small step or elegant act of setting up a bucket like yourself in the garage, as I also have, and instruct all Waterfront Beat neighbor-households to join in this essential, quarter-century-old American practice. And continue on from our homes and graduate to transferring these new skills or behaviors into their workplace, their schools, places of worship, community centers and essentially to all social institutions where we gather. We are after all, our children’s first and most valuable teacher.
I am giddy in now learning I can liberate my garage from large quantities of stored styrofoam soon. At the grass-roots level of our neighborhood, are we not compelled morally to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? I assert myself in the active practice the art of politely declining plastic containers and packaging every consumer opportunity I am able. When you have on your consumer cap, start a new script or mantra. Buy bulk; buy local. And pre-cycle. I encourage our community to critically look at their consumer habits. Honestly, ask yourselves, do I pre-cycle? Do I give any serious consideration to all the useless containers and packaging that house the products I purchase? It takes effort, I know. But we need to contour our habits in all ways we can.
Finally, even as an eternal optimist, I am also a hopeless skeptic. Where exactly are all of these useless fossil-fuel-borne materials going in the end, after they leave the waste transfer station in Richmond? Overseas to under-developed countries in landfills outside their metros along with all our toxic electronic waste? A field-trip for the whole family to the County Transfer Station is an eye-popping social context to behold, believe me. I got religion. I am responsible for all materials that I bring into my home, workplace and community. I am responsible for all that I dispose. Finally, before I commit any of my waste, I require iron-clad assurances I am doing the right thing in completing my cycle of consumerism.
Best regards to you and my neighbors, Althea Hathaway, Promenade St.
@Althea Hathaway aka VidaLee – I’m not sure that the West County facility accepts styrofoam (it was not listed). We may have to drop-off in El Cerrito, but I’ll investigate further because I’ve got a growing collection of that too.
Last year, when the City of Hercules passed an environmental ordinance regarding EPS (aka Styrofoam), there was an article about the ban and where to recycle Styrofoam packaging materials. Unfortunately, there are not many places that accept EPS material, but there are two resources — Earth911.com and the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers — that may offer some assistance for those of you who are interested. We also have a local business, California Sports Touring, on Alfred Nobel, that volunteered to be a drop-off location for packing peanuts and air-pillows.
The UPS Store in the Creekside Shopping Center accepts and recycles Styrofoam “peanuts” and other packing materials.
@Michelle Harrington – @Anonymous – I recently cleaned out the garage making room for holiday decoration storage. As mentioned above there are great places nearby to recycle shipping materials. California Sports Touring next to Hercules Fitness took all my styro peanuts and Amazon air-pillows. The UPS Store at the Home Depot Shopping Center took bubble wrap. To make this even better, both shops have very friend staff. Thumbs up for these local businesses.