Tox Away Day is Good Thing to Let Go to Waste

By LARRY CAPLAN

Tox Away Day is Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This annual event gives local residents a place to safely dispose of hazardous household chemicals. As in years past, it will be in the Roberts Stadium parking lot.

The program is sponsored by the solid waste districts of Posey and Vanderburgh counties. It is officially open to households only in those counties. Businesses are asked not to bring their hazardous wastes.

There will also be about three dozen Master Gardeners on hand to help direct traffic and answer questions.

Materials being accepted are motor oil and filters, oil-based paints, auto batteries and fluids, solvents and thinners, pesticides and herbicides, mercury thermometers, aerosol cans, household cleaners, glues and adhesives, photographic chemicals, pool chemicals, fluorescent bulbs and pharmaceuticals.

Materials NOT being accepting are infectious waste, commercial/ industrial waste, smoke detectors, explosives/ammunition, fire extinguishers, pressurized containers, gas cylinders, appliances, electronics, tires and latex paint.

It’s important to treat hazardous waste with respect. You can do serious damage to the environment and your family’s health by pouring these products down the drain or into a ditch. These chemicals can kill the beneficial bacteria in your septic systems, and they pass unchanged through sewage and water treatment plants. When rains come, the oils and other hazardous chemicals will wash out of ditches and into creeks, streams and rivers, where they can kill fish and other animals, as well as sicken people who drink this water downstream.

Take the time and do the right thing. Dispose of your hazardous household wastes safely at Tox Away Day. And when you’re done, swing by Howell Wetland on Evansville’s West Side for the Fall Flutter-by program, which runs from 1 to 4 p. m.

Both events are free.

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The Fall Master Gardener class begins this week. We still have a few openings. This is your last chance to join one of the most active gardening programs in the Tri-State. To register for the class or for information on Tox Away Day, contact the Purdue Extension Service at 435-5287.

Larry Caplan is an extension educator-horticulture with the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, Vanderburgh County/ Southwest Indiana. You can send e-mail to him at LCaplan@purdue.edu.

(c) 2007 Evansville Courier & Press. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.