Spring cleaning with a conscience

”But there’s one big catch: throwing your old batteries, electronics, and solvents in the recycle bin ensures they’ll poison the water you drink and the land you live on “You can’t just throw a partially used can of WD-40 in a landfill,” said Wayne Wood, Associate Director for the Environmental Health and Safety office of Mcgill University. “It’s really important to make sure these materials don’t get released into the environment. People should be encouraged to think twice before throwing something into the garbage.”

There are three categories of waste: regular household waste, material you can recycle, and hazardous waste, said Wood. The latter shouldn’t go to a landfill or in normal recycle bins.

Instead, when you’re knee deep in half-used paint cans, old tubes of glue, and run-down electronics, call the Pierrefonds-Roxboro Eco Quartier to find out where to take the stuff. “If you were willing to make the effort to go get the TV you bought, it’s your responsibility to dispose of it responsibly as well,” said Christian Ackad, project manager for the Eco Quartier in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, which takes batteries, wine corks, ink cartridges, and cell phones off the hands of consumers who don’t know what else to do with them.

If you have a little more time, however, Reno Depot will take back paint cans, Bureau en Gross will take back electronics, local pharmacies are supposed to have drug take-back programs, and local fire stations take back cell phones, said Ackard.

But solvents like glue, WD-40, and nail polish and removers have to go to an Eco Centre, a warehouse-like space, to be properly disposed of. Unfortunately, the closest one to the West Island is in Ahuntsic-Cartierville. “People are aware and are…bringing products like paint to the centre,” said Pierrefonds-Roxboro mayor Monique Worth. “It’s quite an important sum of money implicated in this, but I would suggest all of the West Island shares one [eco centre] by all chipping in the money.”

If you think you’re hazardous-material-free, think twice. Even your wooden furniture may not be solvent-free. “Wooden furniture is inherently bio degradable,” said Dave Lemkay, general manager of the Canadian Forestry Association. “But it’s important to distinguish between solid wood and composite or faux wood. A lot of modern furniture is often the result of veneers glued on over a composite base, so you’ve got chemicals and glues, things that aren’t just natural.”

In this case, Salvation Army and Thrift Shops for NOVA will take old furniture off your hands and out of your garage.