hazardous materials amnesty day
I recently broke a mercury thermometer in my home and had to take it all the way to Delta, where they charge $100 to dispose of it responsibly. It was extremely tempting to just chuck it in the dumpster and have done with it, and I bet that happens much more often than it should. I hear both Langley and Chilliwack have days in October where they collect hazardous materials at people's homes. Could we do something like that in Vancouver? I think it would go a long way toward keeping hazardous materials out of the landfill.
mercurial me
shared this idea
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HelenS
commented
Classic example: why is it legal to sell thermometers without guaranteeing to the consumer that you will take them back if/when they break? This is "Extended Producer Responsibility" (EPR). It's the policy in BC and gradually the province is expanding the program so that eventually all products and packaging -- toxic or not -- will be as easy to recycle as it is to buy in the first place. (I hope the company you took the thermometer to is honest... that's the other problem: how are consumers supposed to know who is an honest recycler? Even the Canadian Department of Defence was sending computers to China until the BAsel Action Network published a photo of one of their labels in a sweatshop recycling yard in China. With EPR the brand-owner chooses the recycler -- and suffers bad PR if it's a scam.)
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miki
commented
There is a shop on the north side of Venebles Street in Vancouver selling industrial equipment, They will take it free.... I will try to find the address and post it.,,,,,,,,,,,,, The thermostat mounted on the wall in your apt. or house also has a large capsul a mercury activated switch. You may confirm it by opening the cover. Miki.