Doing what you can

Does this sound familiar?

You’re keen, even eager to start your annual spring cleaning ritual. The windows need washing, the balcony needs sweeping, the BBQ needs a good scrub. None of that sounds too bad.

Then you remember that nasty pile. It’s hidden away in a hard-to-reach corner of the garage, maybe even under a tarp or some old newspapers. Perhaps it’s taken up permanent residence under the work bench. You want to get rid of it…but how? And where?

Your own collection of hazardous waste stumps you every year – and worse yet, keeps growing. Every household has a pile like this. Old paints, batteries, electronics, petroleum products, antifreeze, solvents – stuff you can’t put in the trash or blue bin.

In Ontario, a new province-wide program aims to do something about it. Operation Do What You Can is the synthesis of two hazardous waste disposal programs: Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES) and Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW).

OES encourages reuse, recycling and, if needed, proper disposal of unwanted electronic equipment. MHSW makes sure consumer products such as paint, solvents, used oil filters, single use batteries, antifreeze, propane tanks, fertilizers and pesticides are managed in an environmentally appropriate manner. Why bother? Less of these materials going to landfills is a good thing; whether leaching toxic chemicals into groundwater, or never biodegrading, there’s a reason these items don’t belong in the trash.

The target is to divert more than 33,000 tonnes of potentially hazardous or special waste in the first five years, up from the 16,000 tonnes currently collected. This form of pollution prevention, has direct implications for energy – namely, saving it.

How? There aren’t any studies demonstrating exactly how much, but provincial energy and environment ministries are in general agreement: mixing hazardous with “standard” waste is far costlier and energy-intensive than dealing with hazardous waste alone.

All these organizations ask of Ontarians is to help by “doing what you can.”