BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – Temperatures have started to turn the corner, making it a good time to do some long overdue spring cleaning.
A frequent question for homeowners is what to do with all the stuff that didn’t make their list to keep around.
Mark Walter, Business Development Manager with the Brown County Port and Resource Recovery Department, says consider donating some of it.
Perhaps that piece of exercise equipment that strangely goes unused year after year.
“After about a year you realize, oh I haven’t ridden it in a year and I really don’t want it cluttering up my basement anymore, I want to get rid of it,” he explains. “Most of the thrift stores in town will accept exercise equipment.”
And in addition to the other popularly donated items, such as gently worn clothes and dvd’s, most other belongings can stay out of the trash.
A majority of items made out of plastic, paper, metal, and glass all fall into the category of recyclable items.
Latex-based paint cans fall into that category, but just make sure that the paint itself has been hardened or solidified first.
“If you have to find a way to dry it out, you can dry it out by adding sawdust to it or putting it in a box with a whole bunch of crumpled paper and kind of spreading it out and drying it out,” explains Walter.
But, make sure to check the label first.
Oil-based paint, which is flammable, should be brought to the Hazardous Material Recovery facility, whether the can is empty or full.
In fact, even the cleaning products you’ll be using around the house can stay out of the trash once they are used up.
“If the cleaning products are empty they actually are recyclable,” he says. “[First,] give them a quick rinse just to get any residue out of them.”
Not all items get the green light, though.
The remnants of spring yard work will have to go elsewhere.
“All the stuff that you’re cleaning up in your yard,” explains Walter. “All the brush, all the leaves, branches, garden waste, anything else that might be out there.”
According to him, those materials should be sent to the local community yard waste.
An online resource on how to properly dispose of an array of different materials can be found on the county resource and recovery page.
For officials, it’s an important time for everyone to take a second and ensure that their unwanted items are being passed along in the best way possible.
“Before you just throw it out, think about some of the other options that are out there for those materials,” says Walter.
