Is this true?
A while ago, a friend sent me this article from SmartMama.com on BPA. BPA (for Bisphenol A) is a chemical found in many types of plastics, including those used for food (e.g., the plastic liner in some canned products, Nalgene bottles, etc). BPA has a similar molecular structure to estrogen, and when introduced to the body can interfere with processes that rely on estrogen. It has been associated with breast cancer, low semen production, and rising rates of early pubescence in girls.
SmartMama reviews a scientific study linking BPA to obesity. My friend asked me for my take on it.
Here is what I said.
The abstract of the study does not say if they controlled for dietary
choices. Obviously, eating more packaged foods equals more BPA and more
calories...
However, these results are not surprising. The body is extremely
parsimonious. The same hormones that lead to sexual development are also
used in building muscle and controlling the metabolism. BPA is a
hormone disrupter, so no surprise when we find out it is messing with
our bodies in a multitude of ways.
What should you do about it?
I try to avoid eating processed foods as much as possible. Of course, that is a good move for many reasons (healthier, fewer calories, less packaging materials, etc). However, you can't always avoid it entirely. The trick is that only certain plastics have BPA. Typically plastics labeled 1, 2, 4, and 5 are BPA free. Here is the rhyme I came up with to help me remember which ones.
One, two, four, and five
If you want to stay alive.
Avoid number three
So you can be cancer free.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Repurpose: One of the many Rs (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Refuse...)
During the course of my most epic adventure (err... I mean, moving, stressing about moving, and looking up organization tips), I found a few more great resources.
1. Homesteading and Survival-ism: They have a website, but their Facebook page is far more exciting. They have wonderful pictures of little cabins and other rustic living spaces, but they also have a lot of cute, cool little ideas how to do things on the cheap, like turn gutters into hanging gardens (see here).
2. Karmic Recycling: A woman catalogs her experience with her worm bin. Check it out here.
3. Apartment Therapy: Another great resource on how to live comfortably in small spaces, how to re-purpose trash into treasure, and other fun things (check their blog out here).
1. Homesteading and Survival-ism: They have a website, but their Facebook page is far more exciting. They have wonderful pictures of little cabins and other rustic living spaces, but they also have a lot of cute, cool little ideas how to do things on the cheap, like turn gutters into hanging gardens (see here).
2. Karmic Recycling: A woman catalogs her experience with her worm bin. Check it out here.
3. Apartment Therapy: Another great resource on how to live comfortably in small spaces, how to re-purpose trash into treasure, and other fun things (check their blog out here).
How to get rid of your stuff: Why George Carlin was right
I believe George Carlin once pointed out that other people's belongings are "shit", while your own things are "stuff." I'd like to carry that logic one step further and say that all stuff is shit. Seriously, why do I need a food processor, blender, and an immersion blender? And where the hell did that creme brulee torch come from?!?
I'm moving from a large apartment into a much smaller apartment, and I need to get rid of a lot of things that I do not use very often. But I can't just throw it away in the garbage! That means it goes to a landfill, to slowly corrode and seep into our water supply. Throwing things in the garbage unnecessarily is one of the high crimes of environmentalism, but one that is so easy to give in to. Here is what I've learned so far.
A. The resources listed below vary widely from county to county in what they will accept. Always check beforehand with your local facility to be sure they will accept your items.
1. Stuff: The vast majority of your stuff can be donated to Goodwill. For people in the Bay Area, you can check out the list here. There is a very small list of what they won't take, like really dangerous stuff (guns, knives, etc), or really big appliances (refrigerators, water heaters).
2. Furniture: The Goodwill in my neighborhood contracts out with a group called College Hunks Moving Junk. According to their website, they will pick up your furniture and haul it away for you. Anything that can go to the Goodwill, they give you a tax deductible receipt for, and anything that cannot go to the Goodwill, they take anyway and dispose of in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. Sadly, I cannot yet vouch for the attractiveness of their employees.
3. E-waste (Old electronics, cables, power cords, etc): Most electronics can go to (surprise!) the Goodwill. They will refurbish useable electronics (they erase and reformat the drive, to protect your privacy), and whatever doesn't work is disassembled and recycled. The few exceptions are fluorescent bulbs and batteries. Those have to go to the household hazardous waste facility.
4. Household hazardous waste: In addition to bulbs and batteries, you can take your old cleaning supplies here. The useable stuff is donated to poor families. I even donated old, but useable soap and shampoo to be put in their donation warehouse. Some of these facilities have weird hours (e.g., only Tuesday from 2-5pm), and most will require an appointment for drop-offs.
5. Medicine: As I mentioned in a previous post, you should not flush your unwanted medicine down the toilet. There should be a medicine drop-off box at your local sheriff's office that will take everything, including controlled prescription painkillers. As I've said before, I still cannot find out what exactly they do with the unwanted medicine. I've emailed a number of resources, and still no luck. Maybe I can find an investigative journalist to take this one on.
6. Miscellaneous: In one of my first posts I called out this website (clutterfreeservices.com/resources.html) as a good place to find out where to get rid of your stuff. Another resource I stumbled across recently is the San Mateo Recology Database. Pretty good resource for all of the miscellaneous crap I need to get rid of that can't go anywhere else (e.g., used cds, crutches, eyeglasses).
B. Don't give up! You will have to make a number of trips to different places to get rid of all of your crap, but it will be worth it! At the end of the day you will know you've done the right thing and that somewhere someone treasures that thing you wanted to throw away like the piece of shit it was.
I'm moving from a large apartment into a much smaller apartment, and I need to get rid of a lot of things that I do not use very often. But I can't just throw it away in the garbage! That means it goes to a landfill, to slowly corrode and seep into our water supply. Throwing things in the garbage unnecessarily is one of the high crimes of environmentalism, but one that is so easy to give in to. Here is what I've learned so far.
A. The resources listed below vary widely from county to county in what they will accept. Always check beforehand with your local facility to be sure they will accept your items.
1. Stuff: The vast majority of your stuff can be donated to Goodwill. For people in the Bay Area, you can check out the list here. There is a very small list of what they won't take, like really dangerous stuff (guns, knives, etc), or really big appliances (refrigerators, water heaters).
2. Furniture: The Goodwill in my neighborhood contracts out with a group called College Hunks Moving Junk. According to their website, they will pick up your furniture and haul it away for you. Anything that can go to the Goodwill, they give you a tax deductible receipt for, and anything that cannot go to the Goodwill, they take anyway and dispose of in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. Sadly, I cannot yet vouch for the attractiveness of their employees.
3. E-waste (Old electronics, cables, power cords, etc): Most electronics can go to (surprise!) the Goodwill. They will refurbish useable electronics (they erase and reformat the drive, to protect your privacy), and whatever doesn't work is disassembled and recycled. The few exceptions are fluorescent bulbs and batteries. Those have to go to the household hazardous waste facility.
4. Household hazardous waste: In addition to bulbs and batteries, you can take your old cleaning supplies here. The useable stuff is donated to poor families. I even donated old, but useable soap and shampoo to be put in their donation warehouse. Some of these facilities have weird hours (e.g., only Tuesday from 2-5pm), and most will require an appointment for drop-offs.
5. Medicine: As I mentioned in a previous post, you should not flush your unwanted medicine down the toilet. There should be a medicine drop-off box at your local sheriff's office that will take everything, including controlled prescription painkillers. As I've said before, I still cannot find out what exactly they do with the unwanted medicine. I've emailed a number of resources, and still no luck. Maybe I can find an investigative journalist to take this one on.
6. Miscellaneous: In one of my first posts I called out this website (clutterfreeservices.com/resources.html) as a good place to find out where to get rid of your stuff. Another resource I stumbled across recently is the San Mateo Recology Database. Pretty good resource for all of the miscellaneous crap I need to get rid of that can't go anywhere else (e.g., used cds, crutches, eyeglasses).
B. Don't give up! You will have to make a number of trips to different places to get rid of all of your crap, but it will be worth it! At the end of the day you will know you've done the right thing and that somewhere someone treasures that thing you wanted to throw away like the piece of shit it was.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Season of Consumerism: The Saga Continues
Back in November, I was struggling with Christmas time dilemmas (see this post). I wanted to give and receive gifts as part of the season's celebration, but without being a sellout to consumer-driven impulses. I'm following up on that post by describing what I learned about turning the season of gift giving into the season of charity.
Asking for donations to charity as a Christmas gift
As my November post states, my partner suggested that I ask for a donation to any of a list of charities. I thought this was a great idea, but I was worried about sounding self-righteous or offending others by my choices of charities. I very carefully selected a list of charities that I thought were politically neutral (e.g., Red Cross, Humane Society) and said that I would like a small donation to whichever one of these charities was most moving to the giver. We ended up getting the regular stuff (gift card to Target, Amazon.com, etc), but in addition we also got a card from the Red Cross saying a generous donation had been made in our name! Yay! I sent off a thank you email right away gushing about how delighted I was, and I now have that card hanging up on my wall.
Additionally, some of our other friends, without any prompting or discussion on the topic, gave us a donation to American Forests! (Check them out here.) Twenty five trees were planted in our name! Super cool! Of course, as a scientifically trained environmentalist, I can be pretty picky about which trees get planted where and for what reasons, but after reading through their website, I thought they were going about it in a reasonable and scientifically sound way. Good on them!
Giving donations to charity as a Christmas gift
Right, so what about giving a donation to charity as a gift? Well, the first concern is how the recipient will feel about it, especially if you haven't talked with them about it. That will depend on your relationship with them, so I'll leave that part to you. But a secondary concern is knowing which charity to give to, which is what I briefly discuss here.
I want my donation to have the maximum impact, but how do I pick the charity? There are a number of websites that rate charities. The Better Business Bureau has a special section for charities; Charity Watch and Charity Navigator are two others. Of the ones that I've looked at, Charity Navigator had the best presentation of information, easiest to use search tool, the most comprehensive rating system, and a very large number of charities listed (also organized by cause). You can check out their rating system (here), but basically it boils down to how efficient they are with the money they receive and how transparent they are about spending that money. Charity Navigator also has these great "Top Ten" lists (here): biggest, best rated, most inefficient, most overpaid CEOs, and so on.
But I don't know which charity my friend might like best! So far, I've found two organizations that provide gift-givers with flexibility of choice. The first is Donors Choose which allows you to give money to a classroom. You get to choose in which area you want to donate to (e.g., in your current community or your old hometown) and for which type of project (e.g., science, art, etc). You get your friend a gift card and they can reimburse it for the project of their choice.
The second one is Charity Choice, and I prefer this one because it is more generalized. You buy a gift certificate and your friend can choose any of 250 charities to spend it on (up to 3 charities). These charities range across many different causes and include the biggest players in the field (e.g., WWF, Sierra Club, Greenpeace).
But what if I still want to give them a physical gift? There are definitely times when you do need a physical gift and showing up with an envelope with a gift card just seems lame. Here are a few solutions I came up with this Christmas.
1. Get them something local and consumable. While I try not to buy "stuff" like clothes or gadgets, I still have to buy consumable goods like food, shampoo, toilet paper, and so on. So why not get your friend a luxury consumable good like wine, olive oil, spices, and so forth. A lot of these goods can be found in local shops and farmers markets.
2. Get them something fair trade. We are lucky to leave near Palo Alto which has a United Nations Association store. Whenever I need a physical gift that won't spoil, I go there. They have cards, books, jewelry, ornaments, clothes, and so on. Most of these items are made by artisans in developing countries who are paid a fair price for their work. Profit from all of the items helps support communities in those developing countries. Beyond that, you can also find some cool stuff in your local Whole Foods.
Overall, I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with how this Christmas season went and very optimistic about Christmas this coming year!
Asking for donations to charity as a Christmas gift
As my November post states, my partner suggested that I ask for a donation to any of a list of charities. I thought this was a great idea, but I was worried about sounding self-righteous or offending others by my choices of charities. I very carefully selected a list of charities that I thought were politically neutral (e.g., Red Cross, Humane Society) and said that I would like a small donation to whichever one of these charities was most moving to the giver. We ended up getting the regular stuff (gift card to Target, Amazon.com, etc), but in addition we also got a card from the Red Cross saying a generous donation had been made in our name! Yay! I sent off a thank you email right away gushing about how delighted I was, and I now have that card hanging up on my wall.
Additionally, some of our other friends, without any prompting or discussion on the topic, gave us a donation to American Forests! (Check them out here.) Twenty five trees were planted in our name! Super cool! Of course, as a scientifically trained environmentalist, I can be pretty picky about which trees get planted where and for what reasons, but after reading through their website, I thought they were going about it in a reasonable and scientifically sound way. Good on them!
Giving donations to charity as a Christmas gift
Right, so what about giving a donation to charity as a gift? Well, the first concern is how the recipient will feel about it, especially if you haven't talked with them about it. That will depend on your relationship with them, so I'll leave that part to you. But a secondary concern is knowing which charity to give to, which is what I briefly discuss here.
I want my donation to have the maximum impact, but how do I pick the charity? There are a number of websites that rate charities. The Better Business Bureau has a special section for charities; Charity Watch and Charity Navigator are two others. Of the ones that I've looked at, Charity Navigator had the best presentation of information, easiest to use search tool, the most comprehensive rating system, and a very large number of charities listed (also organized by cause). You can check out their rating system (here), but basically it boils down to how efficient they are with the money they receive and how transparent they are about spending that money. Charity Navigator also has these great "Top Ten" lists (here): biggest, best rated, most inefficient, most overpaid CEOs, and so on.
But I don't know which charity my friend might like best! So far, I've found two organizations that provide gift-givers with flexibility of choice. The first is Donors Choose which allows you to give money to a classroom. You get to choose in which area you want to donate to (e.g., in your current community or your old hometown) and for which type of project (e.g., science, art, etc). You get your friend a gift card and they can reimburse it for the project of their choice.
The second one is Charity Choice, and I prefer this one because it is more generalized. You buy a gift certificate and your friend can choose any of 250 charities to spend it on (up to 3 charities). These charities range across many different causes and include the biggest players in the field (e.g., WWF, Sierra Club, Greenpeace).
But what if I still want to give them a physical gift? There are definitely times when you do need a physical gift and showing up with an envelope with a gift card just seems lame. Here are a few solutions I came up with this Christmas.
1. Get them something local and consumable. While I try not to buy "stuff" like clothes or gadgets, I still have to buy consumable goods like food, shampoo, toilet paper, and so on. So why not get your friend a luxury consumable good like wine, olive oil, spices, and so forth. A lot of these goods can be found in local shops and farmers markets.
2. Get them something fair trade. We are lucky to leave near Palo Alto which has a United Nations Association store. Whenever I need a physical gift that won't spoil, I go there. They have cards, books, jewelry, ornaments, clothes, and so on. Most of these items are made by artisans in developing countries who are paid a fair price for their work. Profit from all of the items helps support communities in those developing countries. Beyond that, you can also find some cool stuff in your local Whole Foods.
Overall, I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with how this Christmas season went and very optimistic about Christmas this coming year!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Early testimonials for Trusted Green Expert blog
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"I can actually trust you to research things and give me an informed and digestible answer. Saves me from having to sift through the BS online."
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"Smart and funny."
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Bane of the vain: Earth friendly deodorants
This may fall into the category of TMI, but I sweat. A lot. I mean, I only sweat when I exercise, but still, I've known guys who sweat less than I do. I mention this because, as an environmentalist, I have a problem with commercial deodorants. All of those chemicals, yuck! Besides parabens (see previous post) most commercial deodorants use aluminum as an antiperspirant. To date, I have not read any conclusive studies of the relationship between aluminum and Alzheimers or breast cancer, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a relationship we don't know about yet. My rule of thumb is that if I'm in doubt on the safety of the product and there is a convenient and comparable alternative, I will use the alternative.
The problem was that until recently I had not found an effective alternative. I tried the crystal (until I found out it was a block of aluminum salt, uhhh... no thanks), Tom's of Maine's all natural stick deodorant, witchhazel, and baking soda. Baking soda was by far the closest I got to a working solution. I'd mix it with canola oil and lavender oil, until it was a smooth consistency. The problem was that it never remained a smooth consistency, it didn't apply well, and it didn't really smell that great. I mean, it didn't smell bad, and certainly not as bad as I would have smelled without it, but it didn't smell great.
Then, out of the blue, my sissy asks if I want anything from this website. "They're having a half off sale and I'm getting stuff for the baby." So, I end up getting a little jar of Poofy Organics creamy deodorant, made of basically the same stuff I had used for my baking soda version, except with some professional know-how and some better scent combinations.
Holy moly! I think it might work, and it most definitely smells great. It goes on smooth, doesn't leave gross white chunks, and seems to last throughout the day. Cautiously, I started using it on days when I knew I wasn't going to the gym. By the end of the day, I'd do the armpit sniff check, and everything was okay. Yesterday I worked out at the gym without applying conventional deodorant first. Success! It is not an antiperspirant, so you'll still sweat, but you won't smell. Honestly, it did feel a little funny to have sweat trickling down my arm, but I guess that's no worse than having sweat trickle down my face, right?
The problem was that until recently I had not found an effective alternative. I tried the crystal (until I found out it was a block of aluminum salt, uhhh... no thanks), Tom's of Maine's all natural stick deodorant, witchhazel, and baking soda. Baking soda was by far the closest I got to a working solution. I'd mix it with canola oil and lavender oil, until it was a smooth consistency. The problem was that it never remained a smooth consistency, it didn't apply well, and it didn't really smell that great. I mean, it didn't smell bad, and certainly not as bad as I would have smelled without it, but it didn't smell great.
Then, out of the blue, my sissy asks if I want anything from this website. "They're having a half off sale and I'm getting stuff for the baby." So, I end up getting a little jar of Poofy Organics creamy deodorant, made of basically the same stuff I had used for my baking soda version, except with some professional know-how and some better scent combinations.
Holy moly! I think it might work, and it most definitely smells great. It goes on smooth, doesn't leave gross white chunks, and seems to last throughout the day. Cautiously, I started using it on days when I knew I wasn't going to the gym. By the end of the day, I'd do the armpit sniff check, and everything was okay. Yesterday I worked out at the gym without applying conventional deodorant first. Success! It is not an antiperspirant, so you'll still sweat, but you won't smell. Honestly, it did feel a little funny to have sweat trickling down my arm, but I guess that's no worse than having sweat trickle down my face, right?
Friday, January 11, 2013
The Simpson Fish: Dispose of unused medicines safely!
A friend recently asked:
"Here's an environmental question for you. What is the proper way to dispose of unused medication? I still have a full bottle of pain pills and the suggestions I get are essentially to dump them into the water supply. Umm.... pass. :-( "
My response:
Great question! There is a short answer and a long answer.
Short answer: Remove the prescription info from the bottle, mix the medicine with something icky, conceal it in a bag or other container, then throw it in the trash.
Long answer: There really is no good answer. The FDA website says to find a take back program in your area. Usually this is the police station, but Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and CVS have mail back programs where you buy a pre-paid package to send to company that processes them (more on this later). If there is no take back program near your home, you should dispose of your medicine in the trash. The website also says that some medicines should be flushed down the toilet to avoid having someone accidentally taken them, and that the damage done to the environment is a better choice than accidental ingestion.
To my mind, this is utter bullshit. The FDA website points out that most of the drugs contaminating our groundwater are from elimination. This means that the drugs are not fully used in the body and get passed on through urine and feces, and because water treatment plants are not equipped to remove these contaminants, the drugs go on to our creeks and oceans. Trace levels of many drugs including antiobiotics, hormones, and painkillers have been found in local water supplies. So what better way to continue contaminating our water supply than by putting completely undiluted drugs straight down the drain!
If you dispose of drugs at home, there are some relatively simple precautions you can take to make sure no one accidentally takes them. The best guide I found online was from the South Caroline Department of Health and Environmental Control, and it describes the steps I listed above in the "short answer" section. This seems to me to be a very effective way to eliminate the risk of accidental ingestion while keeping the drugs out of the water system. There is, however, a minor, secondary problem associated with this route.
Will the drugs leach out from the landfill into the groundwater? A USGS website had a pretty good article on this topic. Basically, landfills built prior to 1970 were unlined, meaning contaminants could leach out into underground aquifers. In the 80s legislation was passed to make all new landfills lined, thereby reducing the amount of leaching possible, but even then, the lining will eventually degrade and leaks will happen. Scientists are currently studying natural process which they hope will filter out most of the contaminants (e.g., eaten by microorganisms, filtered through limestone, etc). But yes, it will eventually be a problem we will have to deal with in the future.
What about the take-back programs? So, this is another interesting option. The mail back programs exclude powerful painkillers like vicodin and hydrocodone, so not helpful in this case. But most police station will take drugs, including controlled prescriptions like those painkillers I listed. In either case, they end up in the same place: a designated disposal facility. The big one that the pharmacies use is Sharps Compliance Inc. I've looked everywhere on their website, but for the life of me, I can't find any description of how they destroy the drugs. Honestly, I'm a little bit suspicious, especially after I found out what happens at the local household hazardous waste facility. In either case, I've emailed the Sharps Inc customer service department, so hopefully I will get a good answer and update this post with a better alternative.
Wait, what was that about the household hazardous waste disposal? Haha, oh yes. I recently dropped off some old household cleaners at the Redwood city household hazardous waste facility. When I dropped them off, I asked the guy what would happen to them. He said the good stuff would be given away to the poor and the rest would be incinerated. WTF?!?! I'm not sure which disturbed me more, the bit about poor people or the incineration of toxins. So I did a little more investigation. Household hazardous waste (which includes paint, pesticides, cleaners, fluorescent bulbs, and batteries; but not used medicines or needles) is regulated at the state level. Each state will have different processes, but from what I've read they are all pretty similar. The best description I've found of the various disposal methods was on the Florida website . Yes, the good paint and cleaners are given away to the poor, and some stuff is incinerated, but most of the processes do seem legitimate, and certainly better than the landfill.
"Here's an environmental question for you. What is the proper way to dispose of unused medication? I still have a full bottle of pain pills and the suggestions I get are essentially to dump them into the water supply. Umm.... pass. :-( "
My response:
Great question! There is a short answer and a long answer.
Short answer: Remove the prescription info from the bottle, mix the medicine with something icky, conceal it in a bag or other container, then throw it in the trash.
Long answer: There really is no good answer. The FDA website says to find a take back program in your area. Usually this is the police station, but Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and CVS have mail back programs where you buy a pre-paid package to send to company that processes them (more on this later). If there is no take back program near your home, you should dispose of your medicine in the trash. The website also says that some medicines should be flushed down the toilet to avoid having someone accidentally taken them, and that the damage done to the environment is a better choice than accidental ingestion.
To my mind, this is utter bullshit. The FDA website points out that most of the drugs contaminating our groundwater are from elimination. This means that the drugs are not fully used in the body and get passed on through urine and feces, and because water treatment plants are not equipped to remove these contaminants, the drugs go on to our creeks and oceans. Trace levels of many drugs including antiobiotics, hormones, and painkillers have been found in local water supplies. So what better way to continue contaminating our water supply than by putting completely undiluted drugs straight down the drain!
If you dispose of drugs at home, there are some relatively simple precautions you can take to make sure no one accidentally takes them. The best guide I found online was from the South Caroline Department of Health and Environmental Control, and it describes the steps I listed above in the "short answer" section. This seems to me to be a very effective way to eliminate the risk of accidental ingestion while keeping the drugs out of the water system. There is, however, a minor, secondary problem associated with this route.
Will the drugs leach out from the landfill into the groundwater? A USGS website had a pretty good article on this topic. Basically, landfills built prior to 1970 were unlined, meaning contaminants could leach out into underground aquifers. In the 80s legislation was passed to make all new landfills lined, thereby reducing the amount of leaching possible, but even then, the lining will eventually degrade and leaks will happen. Scientists are currently studying natural process which they hope will filter out most of the contaminants (e.g., eaten by microorganisms, filtered through limestone, etc). But yes, it will eventually be a problem we will have to deal with in the future.
What about the take-back programs? So, this is another interesting option. The mail back programs exclude powerful painkillers like vicodin and hydrocodone, so not helpful in this case. But most police station will take drugs, including controlled prescriptions like those painkillers I listed. In either case, they end up in the same place: a designated disposal facility. The big one that the pharmacies use is Sharps Compliance Inc. I've looked everywhere on their website, but for the life of me, I can't find any description of how they destroy the drugs. Honestly, I'm a little bit suspicious, especially after I found out what happens at the local household hazardous waste facility. In either case, I've emailed the Sharps Inc customer service department, so hopefully I will get a good answer and update this post with a better alternative.
Wait, what was that about the household hazardous waste disposal? Haha, oh yes. I recently dropped off some old household cleaners at the Redwood city household hazardous waste facility. When I dropped them off, I asked the guy what would happen to them. He said the good stuff would be given away to the poor and the rest would be incinerated. WTF?!?! I'm not sure which disturbed me more, the bit about poor people or the incineration of toxins. So I did a little more investigation. Household hazardous waste (which includes paint, pesticides, cleaners, fluorescent bulbs, and batteries; but not used medicines or needles) is regulated at the state level. Each state will have different processes, but from what I've read they are all pretty similar. The best description I've found of the various disposal methods was on the Florida website . Yes, the good paint and cleaners are given away to the poor, and some stuff is incinerated, but most of the processes do seem legitimate, and certainly better than the landfill.
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