Many household products you use to clean your kitchen and bathroom, maintain your car and home, and control animals and insects contain hazardous materials.
Hazardous waste includes anything toxic, flammable, corrosive or explosive. While most containers have identifiable symbols on them, others, such as prescription drugs or nail polish, do not, or the labels may be missing. These substances should be considered hazardous and don't belong in the trash.
This Saturday, Sept. 24, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., you can bring your hazardous waste to the Public Works yard at 11 Sault Road (Go down Station Street, past the hardware store, and left onto Sault Road. The Public Works yard will be on your right).
“People should bring their hazardous waste to public works for proper disposal,” said Darren MacKenzie, director of public works and facilities. “By doing this, it keeps it out of the environment and helps keep our lands and waters clean for future generations.”
You can find an accessible children’s guide on the Health Canada website. ‘Stay Safe’, is designed to be a fun guide for children, teaching about the hazards of chemicals and what the various symbols mean.
The Township of Manitouwadge placed a flyer in all mailboxes on Friday, outlining examples of what can be dropped off, including items like paints, solvents, disinfectants, batteries, bleach, ink and toners, fluorescent lights, and car care products, such as brake fluid and antifreeze. These should be presented in their original containers when possible, and be sure to keep volatile products safely separated. For example, you wouldn’t want to dispose of gasoline and old lighters in the same box!
Unused prescription drugs and medications are also on the list. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP) suggests that a safe, environmentally sound method of disposing unused or expired drugs would be to take it to the pharmacy for safe disposal, rather than throw it out in the trash or flush it down the toilet. This service is available year round.
Electronics, such as televisions, computers, printers, batteries and gaming devices can be brought to the Public Works yard for recycling or proper disposal at any time of the year between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For more information, go to the Public Works Landfill Site webpage.
The Township of Manitouwadge encourages residents to dispose of recyclables and regular garbage responsibly (every Monday). Use the landfill site for construction debris and large amounts of regular household waste (open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays).