Getting rid of old pant Tip #1

[Joseph Meehan]

Have you got a few cans of old paint around the house? You know the ones, the paint is five years old and you have changed the color of the rooms twice since then. No one wants the liquid paint. So what do you do? Most places do not want liquid paint for disposal.

Well you could take the lid off and in another five years it would be hardened solid. Some places sell stuff to add to the paint to harden it so you can dispose of it more places. Trouble is they charge a lot for that stuff. My local trash people will take hardened paint only.

Well my trash company suggested clumping type kitty litter. Hey I have two cats, I have plenty of that around. One scoop and about a minute of stirring and I have a solid dry mass. Compared to the price of the stuff at the store this idea is free.

[hallerb]

I dumped it out on newspaper, within a week it was dry:)

Your kitty liter sounds good, my neighbor puts it in the bottom of a box, adds smelly garbage, tapes box shut then puts the box in a garbage bag/ then adds some smelly stuff like dog poo

trash collectors arent supposed to open bags, but are permitted to open boxes

[Harry K]

I can dump it for free at the county landfill. Drawback is that I have to deliver it. Someone said they just dump it into a barrel and mix all together then use to paint various buildings or something.

Harry K

[scott21230]

Lave the top of the paint can open and outside on non-rainy days. Once it's dry you should be able to easiy throw it out. Or just drop it off at any nearby apartment complex dumpster you happen to be driving by.

[hallerb]

theres a place here in poittsburgh construction junction where you can donate leftover building materials. thats a greatr reusae idea, but there are rules like mostly full gallons or something

[jtnospam]

I donate mine to a church youth group that paints out graffiti. If yours is close to the background color of local grafitti, the owner would probably appreciate a paint-out. Some jurisdictions require youthful offenders to paint out grafitti to fulfill community service sentences, maybe call the youth probation dept. in your area and see if they need it.-Jitney

[J.A. Michel]

The guy at the dump had a couple of good suggestions on getting rid of old paint. They will take it if it's dry, but not wet. One suggestion was dumping it out on a old piece of carpet, and letting it dry.

A better suggestion he had that is cheaper than cat litter was to dump sawdast in the paint to dry it out. You can usually find a local lumber yard that will let you have all the sawdust you can handle for free.

[George E. Cawthon]

I think your neighbor is a nut and wasteful--a box and a garbage bag? Recycle the box, use the garbage bag or not. Most communities have information on how to get rid of sensitive stuff.

As far as trash collectors--you must have strange workers where you live, standing around opening boxes. Where I live, they come down the street lickety-split dump the stuff in the truck and are at the next house in 10 second. They don't open anything 'cause they don't have time. At the land fill the truck dumps and leaves, the stuff is spread and covered. Sections where lumber, steel, appliances, etc are dumped may be combed for good stuff but not the normal garbage truck pickup.

[Joseph Meehan]

Your neighbor sounds like an interesting case. :-)

[Don Phillipson]

Waste regulations in this part of the world differentiate between water-thinned paints and others . . .

1. Water-thinned paint can be allowed to go solid, and then may be discarded in household garbage.
2. Oil-based paints require special handling. In Ottawa special collection sites are created for about one week in every year, when citizens may drop off unwanted hazardous liquids e.g. paint, fuel, oil, solvents, etc.

[NickySantoro]

Where I live it is perfectly legal to dump latex paint down the sanitary sewer. I then let the residual amount in the can dry out and recycle the can. The oil based material has to be taken to a place designated by the county. I use so little of OB material that such a procedure is not onerous.

[Phisherman]

You can use old paint for painting inside garages, garage doors, wooden ladders, attics, birdhouses, etc. You can sell it for 50 cents a can at a garage sale. Or you can donate it to churches, scouts, schools for children's craft projects.

[jtnospam]

There is another thread in this group about how to increase security and privacy of one's paper shreddings to prevent identity theft.Might I suggest that one pour it in among a large group of shreddings to dry out before trashing, take care of two problems at once.-Jitney

[Dorot29701]

Where I live, the county has a "collection" day and you can take things like old paint, old batteries, computers etc. down there on that day. It's about three times a year. You might call your county waste disposal dept. and ask if they have a system like that.

[George E. Cawthon]

I wouldn't advertise that it is legal to dump latex down the sewer. Might be legal but more than radically stupid.