I was excited when I heard that the town was going to be picking up large junk last week.
I had been storing several things in the garage that I wanted to get rid of and looked forward to having the extra space to use for something else.
When the day arrived I was surprised to see that they left several items at the curb. When I went to inspect what was there I realized that it was two portable heaters and one of the small window air conditioners. I called and wondered why they had left these items. They said that they were not authorized to pick up anything that had to do with heating or cooling. They said that many of these items contain dangerous chemicals or materials that were not allowed in landfills. I was surprised by this but I guess it made sense. There are places that recycle these items but you need to pay them for the disposal. Government regulations require that these items be properly broken down or neutralized so that they are not harmful to the environment and these facilities have the ability to do that. I was not happy about paying for these services but at least I now have extra space in the garage and know better in the future and how to get rid of those types of items. This will also affect what I purchase in the future because I will always think about how I will dispose of that new item in the event that it breaks or is no longer of use to me.