An Opportunity to Get Rid of Hazardous Wastes for Free

If you are helping your parents clean out the shed or settling an estate and come across banned or unusable pesticides, Maine is offering a chance to dispose of them legally and without cost just in time for fall clean up. From  the Maine.gov website:

The issue

Homeowners and farmers sometimes discover old, unusable or “obsolete” pesticides in the shed, garage of cellar. DDT, dioxin-containing 2,4,5-T and compounds of arsenic, mercury or lead all marvels in their day are now banned because of their hazards to human health, wildlife or to the environment. Sometimes pesticides become unusable because they freeze or get damp and solidify. Mainer’s who want to dispose of these wastes in an environmentally sound manner are often discouraged to learn that proper disposal of waste pesticides is prohibitively expensive.

The program

The Board of Pesticides Control (BPC) and the Department of Environmental Protection provide citizens with a responsible, free solution to their obsolete pesticide problem. Once a year, these agencies collect obsolete pesticides brought to sites across Maine. The materials are then shipped to out-of-state disposal facilities. Banned pesticides and pesticides that have become caked, frozen or otherwise rendered unusable can be accepted. .. The program is available to homeowners as well as non-corporate farmers and greenhouse operators

Do plan ahead and sign up.

Harriet Vaughan

About Harriet Vaughan

I am a Senior Move Manager, working with Senior Citizens and their families when it is time to downsize or just make the home safer and more comfortable for aging in place. I help these people make decisions about what to keep, throw out, donate, or sell. I also offer workshops on "Getting Things Done When You Are Over 60". I write about how to overcome memory lapses and how to use your physical energy well. I have a degree in Home Economics from the University of Maine. I live in Coopers Mills, about 14 miles east of Augusta. I have been married for almost 50 years to my husband, Chuck Vaughan. Our business is called Legacy Years Transition Services.