Hburg-RoCo Househould Hazardous Waste Collection Day
Thanh -- September 7th, 2007
Saturday September 29 is the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day for Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County residents. The collection will take place from 8am – 12noon at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds. This is a great opportunity for all of us to go through our closets, basements, and storage sheds and bring to the collection our oil based paints, paint thinners, hydraulic oils, herbicides, pesticides, fuels, that have been sitting around for too long and probably will never be used (Go here for a complete list of accepted items).
According to the US EPA,
The average home can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of HHW in the basement and garage and in storage closets.(!)
Leftover household products that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients are considered to be “household hazardous waste” or “HHW.” Products, such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides, that contain potentially hazardous ingredients require special care when you dispose of them.
Improper disposal of household hazardous wastes can include pouring them down the drain, on the ground, into storm sewers, or in some cases putting them out with the trash. The dangers of such disposal methods might not be immediately obvious, but improper disposal of these wastes can pollute the environment and pose a threat to human health… For more information on which wastes at home are hazardous refer to the list of common household products with potentially hazardous ingredients.
September 29, 2007 will be Harrisonburg and Rockingham County’s 12th year of holding this collection. Only household waste will be collected at this event. Businesses are encouraged to arrange collection with contracted disposal companies. If you have any questions please call the City at 434-5928 or the County at 564-3008. Thanks!
Yippee! Finally a chance to get rid of those 15 half-used cans of paint that the last owner of my house so generously left to me!
Working the event is a lot of fun too. You should see the 55-gallon paint drum by the time it’s filled with all the colors of the rainbow and then some. That shade of gray does not occur in nature.
Laura, I’m glad to hear that you’re taking up this opportunity to get rid of the unused paint in your house! One note I have: Take a look to see what kind of paint it is. The HHW Day collects only oil based paints. If you happen to have water based or latex paint you can actually just remove the lid and let it dry out and then place it out curbside on your bulk collection day. It might save you a trip. More information on paint disposal and bulk collection day here: http://www.harrisonburgva.gov/index.php?id=465. I hope this is helpful.
I don’t suppose anyone would know if uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are accepted?
Most UPS are lead-acid and the site Thanh linked to says lead-acid batteries are accepted, but they don’t mention UPS.
This is what I get for being a geek pack-rat, I take any computer equipment people don’t want and 75% of it I can’t fix and then need to dispose of.
Justin, you should call Public Works at 434-5928 and inquire. That’s a good question.