Paint. We all hang on to it. You painted your kitchen 15 years ago? You probably kept that can of paint thinking you may need it for touch ups down the line. Fast forward 10 years and you’ve re-painted the room an entirely different color. Maybe you’ve even renovated the entire room. But you still have that original can of paint, now useless and maybe even dried up. What now? Paint isn’t exactly cheap and most of us put a lot of thought into our color choices, so it makes sense that we hold onto it. But what do you do with it once it’s rendered useless? Read on to learn how to create a new life for your old paint!
A New Life for Old Paint: Not your average trash
While it may not be common knowledge, paint cannot be disposed of with your everyday household trash or recycling. Paint contains harmful toxins that are dangerous to our health and environment. If sent to a standard landfill they can leach toxins into our soil and groundwater. Leftover paint is something we commonly encounter on the job as organizers. Especially when working in basements and garages. So how can you responsibly discard your leftover, unnecessary paint?
Paint disposal: The responsible way
In 2013, the state of Connecticut implemented the PaintCare program. Through PaintCare, you can simply search for the drop-off site nearest you and bring your qualified paints for disposal. Much like bottle/can deposit fees, every Connecticut paint consumer pays a “PaintCare fee” when they purchase paint. This fee funds the free disposal of paint by the consumer. Finding a disposal site is easy. Simply use the Connecticut faction of the PaintCare site to search for a convenient drop-off location by zip code. Your recycled paint is then given a new life. Reusable paints are often remixed into new paint. Non-reusable paints are often reconfigured into a product used in cement manufacturing. By disposing of it responsibly, your paint will not only not contaminate the earth, but it will be recycled into a usable product!
How about dried out paint?
It’s worth noting, dry cans of paint CAN be discarded in a landfill. Feel free to toss them in with your household trash! Pro tip: kitty litter is your friend! If you have any half-full cans of liquid paint, you can add kitty litter to dry them out. Pour it in, mix it up and let it sit. Once the paint is solid, go ahead and discard with you standard trash.
Paint collection: We all do it!
Discarding old paint can be a daunting task. It’s messy, rusty, dry, dusty, dirty- perhaps even home to a spiderweb or two. The list goes on! And let’s face it, most of us store our “might-need-it-in-the-future cans of paint in the purposely-avoided corners of our garages, basements, crawl-spaces, etc.. But fear not! Paint disposal is actually pretty easy. And you probably don’t need to hang onto that can of paint from 2003! Go ahead and take a photo of the paint label for future reference (just in case!) and then find the paint disposal location nearest to you. Many former clients, especially those looking to organize their garages or basements, have paint to part with. We’re happy to help with any organizing and decluttering, including your pesky paint cans!
Do you have unwanted paint cans collecting dust in your home?
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