Sustainability Victoria is encouraging residents in the northern suburbs to look for any flammable chemicals or toxic material that might be stored in their shed or under the sink, ahead of a scorching summer.
Flammable chemicals left in the home can be extremely dangerous, particularly in fire season.
If a fire breaks out, flammable materials add fuel to the fire and toxic household chemicals can release gases that pose great risk to members of the household.
Sustainability Victoria is hosting a free Detox your Home event on Saturday November 4, from 9am at the Darebin Council Works Depot in Reservoir, where residents from Hume and Whittlesea are urged to safely dispose of unwanted flammable chemicals such as turpentine, kerosene, mower fuel, and other household cleaning and garden chemicals.
Chemicals such as these are harmful to the environment and should not be placed in kerbside bins or tipped down the drain as they can pollute our waterways, harm animals and vegetation, and contaminate our water supply.
Running for nearly 30 years, Sustainability Victoria’s Detox your Home program has seen the safe removal of 7,000 tonnes of toxic chemicals – equivalent to the weight of 40 trams – and over 10,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle materials from households around the state.
Hosted in partnership with local council, the event will be attended by expert chemists who identify and sort the chemicals for safe transport back to a licenced facility in Melbourne where they are processed for reuse or safe disposal.
Chemicals collected are recovered or recycled wherever possible, and if they cannot be reused in any way, they will be safely disposed of.
More information: www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/DetoxYourHome/
Gerald Lynch
