Eco-Tip for 7-15-18
You can’t flush a toilet down the toilet
By David Goldstein, Ventura County PWA, IWMD
Most people give little thought to recycling or disposing their daily discards. But when consumers have to discard a large, heavy item, questions arise about handling.
In Ventura County, most single family homes subscribing to curbside refuse service have access to at least one free annual bulky item collection by the hauler contracted to their city or the County. If you call the number on your refuse bill and request your free bulky item collection, you can get rid of most items.
Here are tips for managing some large waste items in Ventura County.
Mattresses: The best option is have your retailer pick up your old mattress when delivering a new one. Although internet vendors of mattresses delivering via common carriers (e.g. UPS, FedEx) are exempt, local stores are required by state law to provide free recycling collection service when delivering a new mattress. (If they do not, then call me; the California Mattress Recycling Advisory Board is collecting information for follow up.) Also, mattresses in separate loads (not mixed with other items) are accepted free at Gold Coast Recycling and Transfer (Ventura), Del Norte Recycling and Transfer (Oxnard), or the Simi Valley Landfill.
Tires: Gold Coast, Del Norte and the Simi Landfill are also options for tires, but they charge at least $5 for each car tire. The best option is to turn in your old tires when buying a new one. Tire dealers serving their customers, sometimes helping even months after a sale, generally charge less than $3. Some good used tires can be sold on-line.
Windows: If your window breaks, do not attempt to recycle the glass by placing it in your curbside recycling cart. Window glass has a different melting temperature than bottle glass, and window glass can ruin an entire load of bottle glass if it gets mixed. Dispose of glass in garbage carts. Metal window frames can be recycled at scrap metal yards. Only high quality, dual pane, standard size windows are accepted for re-sale at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores in Oxnard and Simi Valley.
Phone books: These are still delivered in some Ventura County neighborhood, despite the popularity of on-line searches. They can be recycled with paper in curbside carts.
Toilets: Local companies making road base meet specifications prohibiting porcelain, so the nearest company accepting toilets for use in road base is Filter Recycling Services Incorporated, in Colton. This distance makes recycling impractical unless, like the city of Oxnard several years ago, your toilet replacement is part of a large program replacing hundreds of toilets at a time. Only the highest quality, clean, low-flow toilets are accepted
at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores. Otherwise, toilets must be discarded in a curbside bulky item program or hauled to a disposal facility.
Use caution when moving bulky items. Some items, especially toilets, are sharp and dangerous if they break.
