So I just got an email for Woodsmith with a tip on disposing of old screws. The tip implied throwing old utility knife blades, screws, nails and so on into the trash is dangerous, so they borrowed a medical industry idea and used an old Parmesan cheese container for disposal of this stuff, labeled "Sharps". Now, for the record I never dispose of anything with nails in it, or let this stuff loose except into the trash; just never considered it being a hazard in there. Well, maybe I realized it was a hazard, but the industry was wise to such things and took precautions. So anyway, what's your opinion, is this tip worth using or is it making a problem that doesn't exist?

Wow, if our procedure is unsafe Fred, I am just as guilty as you, I just throw it all in my dedicated shop waste can. When my kids were younger, I did however tell them to never dig through the shop waste can, there are dangerous items in there, and they never did as far as I know.

 

I have coffee cans I could use too to dispose of that stuff, great suggestion I feel!

Guess we will have to hire someone to protect us from all of these sharp objects. My wife talks about taking my tools away every time I get a scratch in the shop

I put used blades (box knife type) inside another container (laundry detergent, etc.) and dispose that way. Nails, screws never really worried about them.

I keep a plastic coffee container and throw all my blades, screws and such in it.  I keep trash bags in the trash cans and have thought such things could tear the bag and then I would have a mess.  I do throw other small pieces of trash in the container so it isn't a heavy solid block of metal when full.     

I use my used box cutter blades as tiny scrapers. Eventually, they end up in a can with all of the other metal junk which ends up in our trash bin.

Our collection system features trash and recycle. The trash pickup is all automated and is touched only by machine. Everything I have (that can't be recycled) is picked up, so I just toss all sharp stuff there. My neighbor had a leak in his radiator and replaced it himself. He asked the water/sewage people where he could toss the antifreeze. Their answer......just flush it down the toilet. By the time it gets a ways down, it will be diluted so much that it will do no harm. I was surprised at this answer.

in the trash you go.

 

i have to take our trash to the transfer station.  trash gets tossed into a channel, bobcat shoves the trash into an open top trailer, when the trailer is full, it's covered and taken to the dump.  i'm the last one to touch the trash with my hands.

 

some anti-freeze these days is propylene glycol (pink), which is food safe and used in the food industry.  the poison stuff is ethylene glycol (green).

2 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

it will be diluted so much that it will do no harm

The solution to pollution is dilution?

The solution to pollution is dilution?

 

Tom, remember when they put air pumps on cars so that they tested within the limits? Same amount of pollution, just diluted.

That's my whole point.  Dilution doesn't remove pollution, it just spreads it thinner so that it can't be detected as easily.  Eventually, you can't dilute it enough to negate any harmful effects.  Head-in-the-sand environmentalism.  I'm not an eco-Nazi, but at the same time I don't want my great grandkids having to go to school in haz-mat suits. 

use less, toss less, pollute less.

 

sounds great, until you run into commerce.  too much, the packaging exceeds the product.  you get more plastic clamshell stuff and paper to explain it than the size and weight and volume of the item you bought.  all so we'll see it on the shelf/hook, or so it's harder to steal.

 

 

9 hours ago, lew said:

I put used blades (box knife type) inside another container (laundry detergent, etc.) and dispose that way. Nails, screws never really worried about them.

Same here -- peanut butter jar for the sharps.

25 minutes ago, DAB said:

the packaging exceeds the product.

theft deterrent...

wide lid plastic jar for sharps...

 

8 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

Their answer......just flush it down the toilet. By the time it gets a ways down, it will be diluted so much that it will do no harm. I was surprised at this answer.

Holy Crap! That would trigger a major lawsuit and the lynching of that customer service rep in my neck of the woods!

53 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Holy Crap! That would trigger a major lawsuit and the lynching of that customer service rep in my neck of the woods!

Bet he's not on a septic system, either. 

2 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Bet he's not on a septic system, either. 

True! That would wreak havoc on a septic wouldn't Gene?

Our waste is now automated here so it’s not touched by hands when dumped into the truck. However I worked for the municipality here and when they had trash collectors they were constantly taking them to the ER with cuts and needle stabs from things that would stick through the garbage bags. 

 

Our Recycle Center still hands sorts the items brought in there and dumped on the conveyor belt. 

 

Hard to to believe they would want that dumped down the drain. Wow. 

 

 

The publication choice is guided by marketing thoughts:  tips from readers give the impression of "involvement", which fosters a sense of inclusion for the customer.  They'll publish what you send in, but they'll also just make stuff up as filler.  It's a form of the old "shill" bidder at auctions:  they're just bumping the price up.  Readers DO participate, but editors are guided by the need for people to subscribe. 

 

We have recycling, so I throw all the metals into that bin.  I don't bag because our service uses the big automated bin-loading trucks, so there aren't any hands to cut; and bags are a real problem for recyclers.  I think most iron items get screened out with magnets, so someone getting a cut on screws or blades is unlikely.  I'd think that glass and sharp plastic are more of a problem.  If people are sorting through trash by hand, without gloves, they are already beyond our help.