Trash Talk: Household Hazardous Waste Collection Volume II
by Peter Thoits, Gray Solid Waste & Recycling Committee

Silence is NOT golden! Last week, after a long hiatus, Mark Arienti broke the Gray Solid Waste Committee silence with an important article about the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection to be held in Gray on Saturday, August 27th, from 9 am to 1 pm. This is a follow-up article to add a couple of details and stress the importance of your participation in this collection.

Fall Clean-Up Weekend! In Gray, this year's HHW collection is being held in conjunction with the Fall Clean Up Weekend. This is the weekend where Gray residents can bring most large household items for disposal at the Gray Transfer Station at no charge. The Solid Waste Committee, along with Solid Waste Director Randy Cookson, thought this would be the perfect time for you to scour your basement, garage, shed, kitchen cupboard, etc. and purge your household of those unused or old toxic, poisonous, flammable, and reactive goodies lurking there. Keep in mind that the HHW collection will be held on Saturday, August 27th only!

Free! The towns of Gray, New Gloucester, North Yarmouth, and Pownal are sponsoring this HHW collection. As a resident of one of these towns you can bring your hazardous wastes and dispose of them safely and responsibly, free of charge!

Is it that important? Absolutely! Gray alone has an estimated 3000 households! Between gasoline, kerosene, oil based paints and stains, pool chemicals, fertilizers and poisons, polishes, and other stuff, the average household can store as much as 100 pounds of hazardous materials. These products are typically found in five areas of the home: kitchens, bathrooms, garages, workshops and gardens. When these materials expire or are no longer useful, the way 3000 households get rid of them becomes extremely important. It doesn't take much poison or toxins or gasoline to ruin a million gallons of ground water. We always have to be mindful that we're living atop our water supply.
Hold your horses! As Mark remarked last week, you should hold onto any hazardous waste you plan to dispose of for the next few weeks. Don't bring them to the Transfer Station now. They're not equipped or staffed to store it.

We're designing a flyer for posting around town and distribution at the Transfer Station that will spell out in more detail what you can and can't bring, a diagram of the traffic flow in and out of the collection area and contact information. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to ask Randy, our most exalted Solid Waste Director, on your visit to the Transfer Station or at 657-2343.
If you have ideas, or articles, or a yen for involvement, we encourage you to contact us. Please contact the Town of Gray Solid Waste and Recycling Committee c/o Peter Thoits pthoits2@maine.rr.com or contact Solid Waste Director Randy Cookson at 657-2343. Don't forget the Gray Solid Waste & Recycling Committee meets the second Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in Stimson Hall.
HHW Factoids: Before you pour or dump, consider this…

(Thanks to the Klickitat County Washington Solid Waste website, http://www.klickitatcounty.org/SolidWaste/ContentROne.asp?fContentIdSelected=989881576&fCategoryIdSelected=-1671944469)
Don't dump them down storm drains or into streams

Storm drains send water directly to our streams and lakes
Toxics poison the fish and can end up in our drinking water supply
Don't pour them down your sink or toilet
Chemicals may cause an explosion in the pipes
Don't pour them on the ground
May seep into groundwater or be washed down storm drains and into streams
Don't burn them
Toxic materials often become more dangerous when they burn
Do not dispose of hazardous household products in your household trash. Illegal disposal methods can endanger your health, the health of others, and the environment.
Could hurt the transfer station workers
Could damage the roll-offs or the compactor
Could seep into our ground or surface water
Septic System Problems Caused by Hazardous Products
If products containing hazardous chemicals are poured down a sink or toilet on a septic system, they can kill the beneficial, digesting bacteria in the tank and disrupt the system.
Chemicals that cannot be broken down by the system's bacteria can pollute the soil and the surrounding groundwater when the liquid is dispersed by the leachfield.