Paint
Paint
Jul 22My office gets plenty of phone calls from people with environmental questions. We get asked everything from composting to recycling to hazardous waste. The whole staff is pretty knowledgeable and we take real pride in being helpful. But there is one question that just makes me want to be silly in my response. That question is, “What do I do with old cans of paint?”
We all have extra paint, in fact, it is estimated that the average garage has 12 opened cans of paint they will never use again. We saved just a little extra in the can just in case we needed it for touch up work. We found it on sale and bought the five gallon bucket instead of the four gallons it took to do the job. We may have even inherited it from the people who owned the home before us.
The answer I want to give is “paint something”, but I know that is probably not the answer they want to hear. It should be. We should have just kept painting until the paint was gone. An extra coat on that door or trim would look better and then you wouldn’t be calling us. Paint can even be blended fairly easily by pouring it into the largest container you have, stirring, then pouring it back into the original container. I have participated in pouring up thousands of gallons and it always turns into the most interesting shades of beige or grey. Dab a little bit of color on the lid and use a marker to put the date on the label.
For proper disposal options, it depends what kind of paint. Latex paint is completely non-hazardous if completely dried. Pop the lid, wait for a few days until completely dried and then dispose of with regular trash with the lid removed. If you have a full container it might take longer. You can add shredded paper, sawdust or even cat litter as an absorbent. Solvent-based paints, also known as oil- based, do contain some hazardous ingredients. We recommend bringing those to our twice-a-year collection events at the fairgrounds.
The staff at the M.e.t. really enjoys helping area citizens become as green as possible. If you have a question that needs an environmental answer, call us at 584-0584. If you get me on the phone, don’t be surprised if my answer is “paint something.”
