The Waste is Gone

Too much household and garden chemical waste sitting mostly unused on shelves in the garage, shed, basement or laundry closet can be overwhelming and a burden, at least for me. I'm talking about hazardous waste including the bottles, jars and cans of paint, paint thinner and bug gone products that have been collecting dust for decades. It is time to act, get rid of them...but properly. Recently my in-laws moved from their home of fifty plus years to retirement living. I call their new community the cruise ship because hundreds of people reside there, the list of activities is extensive plus several restaurants to choose from. They are doing well, cruising suits them!

While helping with their move the past several weeks, the pile of HHW (Hazardous Household Waste) needed to be dealt with and disposed of properly. Nasty, often toxic chemicals shouldn't be poured down the toilet or dumped in the storm drains and certainly not used anymore. Who wants that stuff to end up in our drinking or ground water? Step in and make it go away to the proper facilities that are in business to recycle it correctly.

HHW from the Cahill Move

This summer please take time to gather your outdated, unused chemicals. Make some calls, check county websites or participate in community HHW drop off days. While you're at it, gather your outdated or broken electronic waste (e-waste) while cleaning out the chemicals. Old monitors, phone chargers and keyboards are easily recycled at stores like Best Buy or Goodwill.

Below is a list with links of places to properly recycle HHW and more: 

The easiest ONE STOP place to find out how to recycle anything in your area is to type in Earth911 on your computer or smart device. Type in the item and your zip code and you're off to the recycling races.

Denver County offers a once a year opportunity to fill up a large plastic bag of HHW, light bulbs, batteries and more (at least 3 different materials) for home pick up for just $15.00. With my in-laws, we had too many paint cans, so I used Earth911 to find a place not far from us who took ALL the paint cans at no charge. Denver County HHW.

Jefferson County Residents can drop off HHW for small fees at Rooney Road Recycling.  

Took all paint cans to Old Western Paint Co. Inc.

Adams, Douglas and Arapahoe Counties had a HHW recycle event this past spring, so check their link for other options and resources. Hazardous Chemical Roundups.

Larimer County -  Household Hazardous Wastes

El Paso County - Household Hazardous Waste

I can't list every Colorado County, but you get the idea how to proceed in your locale or city. 

Now if I can just tackle all the other old junk in the basement including boxes from grade school through college! Soon.....very soon!

Our HHW bag was sorted right in their truck in the blue barrels