Many household products contain hazardous chemicals that can, if not properly disposed of, pollute water, harm wildlife and threaten your drinking water and well-being. To learn more about how to identify household hazardous waste (HHW) in your own home, go to What is Household Hazardous Waste?.
There are ways you can protect your family's health and the environment:
- Avoid products marked 'danger'. Look for this word on the labels of cleaners, polishes, paint strippers and pesticides. 'Danger' means the product could poison you, cause serious damage to your skin or eyes, or easily cause a fire. Products marked 'caution' or 'warning' are safer but the best choice of all is a product that doesn't require any warning at all.
- Reduce your use of pesticides in the yard and garden. Go to the Naturally Beautiful Backyards pages for more information about outdoor pesticide reduction.
- Recycle your used motor oil, anti-freeze, household batteries and aerosol cans. These can all be placed out for curbside pick-up on your regular recycling pick-up day.
- Use less-toxic alternatives. See our Green Cleaning pages for more information about these family-and earth-friendly substitutes.
- Dispose of leftover HHW safely. When you dispose of chemicals in the storm drain or sink, the chemicals can end up in local water bodies or groundwater. If you throw them in the garbage, the chemicals can endanger collection and disposal workers. Go to Proper Disposal of HHW to learn about programs available for free disposal of hazardous products.
- Residents of Clark County and its cities will have a number of opportunities to safely remove household hazardous waste, block foam and unwanted electronics from their homes by dropping them off at mobile collection sites located throughout the county on selected Saturdays from April 12 through November 15, 2008. Go to Free Collection Events for a complete listing of dates, times, locations and instructions.
