You can throw away box springs and mattresses for an additional $20 fee per piece.

You can throw away anything with freon in it for an additional fee of $75

While many items come to landfills, there are some household items that may endanger people and the environment.

Please avoid placing the following items in your trash:

• Propane tanks/any type of cylinders

• Paints

• Paint thinners

• Grease and rust solvents

• Wood and metal cleaners

• Nail polish and removers

• Cosmetics

• Household polishes and cleaners

• Oven cleaners

• Drain openers

• Lighter Fluids

• Fungicides and wood preservatives

• Insecticides, herbicide

• Used oil and oil filters

• Fuel injection and carburetor cleaners

• Antifreeze

• Batteries

• Broken thermometers

• Rat poison

• Pool chemicals

It is important to keep these items out of landfills because they can be harmful to the environment, and negatively influence the decomposition of garbage in the landfills. Unfortunately, these items do still end up at landfills, most often transported by garbage trucks.

In the back of a garbage truck, compactors crunch and smash garbage together, often causing hazardous items to combust and result in fire. Even the smallest hazardous item, like a battery, can be a major safety concern for the employee who is driving the truck to the landfill. To keep employees and the environment safe, hazardous wastes should be kept out of the garbage.

Below are a few tips on what to do with your hazardous waste.

1. Reach out to your local solid waste district – Contact your local solid waste district for disposal options. Most solid waste districts have collection days where residents can dispose of hazardous waste properly.

2. Check the label – If a label says the item is “dangerous” or “poisonous”, then this is an indication of a hazardous waste. These labels are often found on household cleaners.

3. Think before you throw away – When throwing something away, ask yourself the question, “Could this be something hazardous?"

By keeping hazardous waste out of landfills, we can further improve environmental safety, while ensuring employee safety.