Bottom Line: San Mateo County Environmental Health Department sponsors a FREE countywide program to collect, recycle and properly dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW).

Anyone can take advantage of this helpful program to dispose of your dangerous household chemicals properly. There are currently eleven (11) HHW collection events per month at locations around the county.

HHW is considered to be any leftover or unused portions of chemical products you use in your kitchen, bathroom, garage, automobile, or yard. This toxic waste can pass through treatment processes or storm drains and get discharged into creeks, the Bay, or the Pacific Ocean! For safety and environmental reasons it is illegal to dispose of HHW in the garbage, sewers or storm drains. Improper disposal of HHW can contaminate our drinking water and wastewater treatment systems, harm the environment, and present hazards to children and pets. So if you have trouble disposing of it safely, be responsible about your HHW and bring it to the collection events.

More Resources:
Household Products Database: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

The Story of Stuff Video: http://www.storyofstuff.com

California Product Stewardship Council: www.calpsc.org
Product Stewardship involves consumers, government agencies and product manufacturers sharing the responsibility of reducing the impact of product waste on our environment.

Take Action

• Find a drop off site near you. or call Environmental Health at 650-363-4718 and select option 3.
• Use Safer Alternatives - KQED Radio, The California Report has good advice.
• Find recovery sites to recycle your used batteries, latex paint, fluorescent light bulbs, used oil, oil filters and antifreeze. (Don't bring ammunition, asbestos, biological materials, business-generated materials, explosives or compressed gas cylinders.)

All above information was gathered from the San Mateo County Wide Water Pollution Prevention website: http://flowstobay.org.

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