Letter to the Editor: Protect the Earth with Safe Waste Disposal

Dear Islanders,

You can celebrate Earth Week by participating in this weekend’s Hazardous Waste Collections at your county solid waste facility:

Orcas Island – Saturday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Lopez Island – Sunday, May 1, from noon to 3 p.m.

San Juan Island’s collection event will be on Saturday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Please see the display ads in your island’s newspaper for more details.  Our solid waste facility attendants can provide you with printed guidelines to help you classify and safely round up your hazardous wastes.  You can also phone or email us to answer your questions.

A minimum fee of $12 will be charged for up to 200 pounds (about 25 gallons) of hazardous waste; quantities over that will cost an additional $.06 per pound.  Post-1979 latex paints are not considered hazardous (i.e. they are now lead-free); you can solidify them by mixing with sawdust or kitty litter and dispose of them with your regular garbage.  A $2 per gallon fee will be charged for latex paint brought to these collections.  We’d appreciate it if you’d take the time to open all paints and consolidate them so that containers are as full as possible.  This will save us time and save you money!  Also, please, separate any items that you think might be reusable so we can give them away!

If you really want “greenie” points…you could sign up for an hour or two at your island’s collection to help us with the reuse table!  Call me asap, please.

Businesses are required to pre-register by calling 370-0503 and will be invoiced for their own disposal costs.

We hope you will take advantage of this convenient opportunity to safely dispose of TOXIC, FLAMMABLE, CORROSIVE, or REACTIVE wastes.  Please take time now to inspect all areas in and around your homes and businesses to inventory your unwanted chemical products.  HAPPY EARTH WEEK!

Thanks for your support,

Helen Venada
San Juan County Hazardous Waste Project
370-0503