Getting rid of old paint and household chemicals

Every garage and basement has a shelf of half-full cans and bottles, some of them leaking, some of them unlabeled. None of it belongs in the regular trash and none of it belongs down a drain. This is a scheduling job before it's a sorting job.

Find the collection day first

Search your county or city waste authority for household hazardous waste. Most places run collection days or a permanent site, and many want an appointment or proof that you live in the area. Read the accepted list and the per-household limit before you load the car.

Put the date on the calendar and build the pile around it. Nothing else about this job matters if you don't have somewhere to take it. If the next collection is two months out, that's fine. The cans have already been there for years.

Paint is the big pile, and it splits two ways

Read the label. Latex and other water-based paints are handled differently from oil-based, alkyd and polyurethane, and the rules vary by state and by hauler. Some places take dried latex in the regular trash, some want it at the collection site, and some want it solidified first. Call and ask rather than guess.

Usable paint, meaning a full can of a color somebody could still put on a wall, is worth offering to neighbors or a local reuse outfit first. Paint that has been frozen or is skinning over in the can isn't usable, and nobody wants it.

What usually counts as hazardous

• Paint, stain, varnish and thinner
• Propane cylinders and camp fuel
• Pool chemicals, fertilizer and weed killer
• Motor oil, antifreeze and brake fluid
• Drain cleaner, oven cleaner and mystery spray cans
• Old gasoline from a mower that won't start

Keep everything in its own container

Don't pour three half-cans into one. Mixing can start a reaction, and the person at the collection site has no way to know what's in there. Leave the label on even if it's peeling. If a can is leaking, set it inside a bigger plastic tub with a lid and keep it upright.

Skip the tape and the plastic wrap. A lid taped down on a swollen container is worse than an open one, and a sealed can that builds pressure is a real problem in a hot trunk.

Move it once, upright, and go straight there

Cardboard boxes with dividers work better than bags because they keep cans from tipping. Load it in the trunk or the truck bed, drive with a window down if anything smells, and go straight to the site. Don't leave a load of chemicals in a hot car while you run errands.

If something spills on the way, don't hose it into the gutter. Soak it up with cardboard or cat litter, bag it, and take it with you.

The stuff that isn't hazardous but still isn't trash

Batteries, fluorescent bulbs, smoke detectors and old medications often have their own drop-off and their own rules. Ask about them at the same time so you're not making a second trip. A collection site that takes paint may not take a smoke detector.

Empty, dry paint cans usually go in the regular trash once the lid is off, but confirm that with whoever hauls your trash, not with a neighbor who thinks he remembers.

The thing people get wrong is missing the appointment and leaving the cans on the ground outside the gate. That's dumping, and it's no better than pouring it down a storm drain. If you can't make the date, put it back on the shelf and wait for the next one.