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Household Hazardous Waste

Can you spot Household Hazardous Waste?

Many of the products used for housework, gardening, home-improvement, or car maintenance contain hazardous materials. They can endanger your health and pollute the environment. Household toxics contain chemicals that are poisonous, corrosive, flammable, or reactive. These include lawn and garden products, oil based paint and solvents, motor oil and auto supplies, household cleaners and aerosol sprays -- even bleach scouring powder.

Read the labels!Signal words for hazardous materials include DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION, and KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.

What can I do with leftover hazardous waste?

When leftover oil based paint, lawn and garden chemicals, batteries, waste oil and other hazardous materials are thrown out, they become hazardous waste. Literally tons of leftover household hazardous wastes are thrown out into garbage cans, dumped down our sinks, or poured ontothe ground each year in communities across the United States. Hazardous materials make up about 2% of the garbage going to landfills and solid waste incinerators. All too frequently, people are injured by these toxics in the trash.

Hazardous waste will only come back to haunt us by polluting our natural resources in which we need to survive -- our air, our water, and our soil.

What Can I do with left over medications?

Many people have left over or expired medicines. Lewis County does not currently have a collection site for left over medicines. Please click here to visit the county's left over medicine web page for more information.

What can I do to reduce the negative impact of hazardous materials on people and the environment?