Safely Disposing of This and That

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As the article “Don’t Drug Your Drinking Water” posted under Protect, we are collectively brewing a soup of chemicals that end up in our waters.  Small mouth bass in local waters exhibit intersex characteristics, apparently from a large class of household, lawn care, and agricultural and/or pharmacological products.

The good news is that Frederick County wants to help citizens safely dispose of hazardous products.  Twice each year, the County accepts such products at the Public Safety Training Facility, 8349 Reichs Ford Road.  You may drop off pharmaceuticals (in their original containers only), fluorescent bulbs, mothballs, household batteries, photographic chemicals, sealants, stains, pool chemicals, household cleaners, pesticides, insecticides/ fungicides, solvents, thinners, and fuels (gasoline/kerosene).  Mark your calendar with the next Hazardous Waste Dropoff Day if Saturday, October 27th, from 8 – 12 noon.  This is a great chance to find a safe place for those things on your shelf that are unsafe for the environment. 

The County’s recycling office promotes a variety of ways that you can dispose of goods to keep them out of the landfill.

Motor oil recycling:  Frederick County, in cooperation with the Maryland Department of the Environment, local municipalities and businesses, offers six motor oil recycling locations for Frederick County residents to dispose of their motor oil in an environmentally safe manner.  There is a limit of 15 gallons per resident per trip.  Please reference the chart to find the location closest to you.

E-cycling:  There is an electronics drop-off site at the Citizens Convenience Center located within the Landfill entrance at 9031 Reichs Ford Road, Frederick, MD. 

Items that are acceptable include cables, cell phones, central processing units, circuit boards, computer chips/cards, keyboards, laptops, monitors, mice, power supplies, printers, scanners and televisions.  This program provides an environmentally friendly alternative to disposal of electronic waste for both residents and businesses in Frederick County.  Our contractor, Computer Donation Management, Incorporated's goal is to recycle as much equipment as economically feasible.

A fee of $2.95 for each 100 pounds ($59 per ton) of electronics will be charged to help offset a portion of the cost of the program. Items may be dropped off from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the Landfill.  If you will be dropping off 10 items or more, please contact us at 301-696-2985 first to ensure adequate space availability.

Freecycling:  Freecycle Website    The worldwide Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It is a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff free in their own towns. Members can post their unwanted items (free), contact other members about their items (free), and take/give/swap their items (free) instead of throwing them out! Membership is free.   To sign up, follow the directions on the Freecycle homepage. It will generate an automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you a response with instructions on how it works. Or you can go directly to the web page for the Frederick community.