I own it, now what do i do with it

Mom died last spring. I am working on clearing out her house....just now I was in the basement sorting out stuff on shelves. Some stuff is easy, but I have a huge category of stuff I have no idea what to do with....

Chemicals...


Petroleum products, spot cleaners etc...i dont need them, i dont want them, i do not want to throw them out

Styrofoam, I have a million bowls and cups unused...I dont want to use them, i do not want to put them in landfills . BTW this could likely make its own topic, I get delivered Styrofoam a few times a year at least as packing for just about anything.

Cleaning products which are not good for environment. In some ways, I have to admit I am in heaven seeing the old wall cleaners, including TSP (tri sodium phosphate) this is a wonderful cleaner, grease just falls off of things. It is also one of the only cleaners the EPA had the wisdom to ban...well not really but they took the phosphates out of dish soap and laundry detergent.

Insecticides, not many of these but....

What do i do with these products?

Laura, I had something similar with my mom's house. See if your local recycling center has a toxic waste day. There is one here for farm chemicals and rarely one for other toxins. They have a way to identify unlabeled things and are supposed to dispose of properly. Styrofoam is terrible too...I have heard that some places are recycling it but I don't have any sources... if someone sends some in a pkg I send it back out in another.

Burned cleanly in a hot fire with plenty of air, styrofoam is much less harmful than if landfilled or burned under the wrong conditions. There's a reason why commercial chemical disposal often involves incineration. If done right, it works and renders the materials far less harmful than if left alone.

Do you have any construction projects planned?

At sugarmtnfarm.com, Walter showed how he utilized decades worth of saved up styrofoam for the final insulative lid on his super insulated butcher shop. It looked like mostly small styrofoam coolers, like you get vaccines in at a medical office, but I'm not sure.

Styrofoam can be recycled now.

The chemicals and cleaners.... I would return them to the manufacturer with a note about your problem

Phosphate-based cleaners and detergents are a huge problem when they get into waterways, partly because they are also potent fertilizers and can cause rapid growth of algae and other invasive water plants, resulting in fish-kills, etc. But judiciously applied to soil or compost, in quantities readily absorbed, and provided the area doesn't leach or run off toward surface water or a storm drain; they would probably benefit it. The same goes for ammonia. It is amazing what a pile of decomposing wood chips inoculated with mushrooms is capable of "eating"---all manner of organic solvents and pesticides, for instance....see Paul Stamet's stuff on this.

Alder Burns wrote:Phosphate-based cleaners and detergents are a huge problem when they get into waterways, partly because they are also potent fertilizers and can cause rapid growth of algae and other invasive water plants, resulting in fish-kills, etc. But judiciously applied to soil or compost, in quantities readily absorbed, and provided the area doesn't leach or run off toward surface water or a storm drain; they would probably benefit it. The same goes for ammonia. It is amazing what a pile of decomposing wood chips inoculated with mushrooms is capable of "eating"---all manner of organic solvents and pesticides, for instance....see Paul Stamet's stuff on this.

Oh i am so excited about this idea...of course. I did know the problem in the rivers but it is a most wonderful cleaner. I would like more input about this idea...anyone done this? I would hate to kill off my beneficial bacteria. I got lawn still and it needs nitrogen...hmm I am afraid lol...perhaps i will try on a wee bit of it and see...if it doesnt kill i can move along to the bamboo.

Here we have a monthly drop off for household chemicals at the muncipal water department. They have chemists working the collection tables that sort them into catagories for proper disposal or recycling.