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Rid Your Home of Hazardous Chemicals and Old Meds Douglas County will hold a hazardous waste and med collection on Wednesday, August 5th at the Bennett Town Hall 9215 East County Road L 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm. This event (the NW Cleansweep Program) collects household hazardous waste (HHW) chemicals from residents FREE of charge. It is a valuable program to our region because it provides an outlet for residents to safely dispose of potentially harmful substances- both for humans, and for animals and the environment. Examples of items collected are: old gas and antifreeze, oil-based paints and stains, strippers, batteries (all types except alkaline -which go into your regular trash), battery acid, herbicides, pesticides and insecticides, mercury-containing items such as old thermometers and thermostats, pool chemicals, photo chemicals, caustic cleaners, fertilizers, solvents, meds., and many, many other items. Accepted again in 2020 are lead tackle/shot. Lead can be ingested by animals causing lead poisoning. Lead is a toxic metal, yet tons, yes TONS of lead is deposited in Wisconsin’s environment annually through hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, according to the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI). Lead deposited in the environment will persist indefinitely and will not break down over time into less-toxic compounds. WBCI goes on to state that, mortality due to lead poisoning has been documented in a wide variety of birds. Lead toxicity can have sub-lethal consequences that can compromise avian survival and reproductive success. Examples of items NOT accepted at this special collection event include: latex paint (is non-hazardous and should be dried out and disposed of in your regular garbage), dried out latex paint cans (these are also garbage), alkaline batteries (currently are not accepted in our region for recycling, dispose of in regular garbage), ammunition, explosives, asbestos, any light bulbs other than fluorescent, and spray foam cyclinders. Farmers and businesses are also welcome to utilize this event but must pre-register, a reasonable fee will be imposed to businesses. Please register (businesses) or contact Jen with questions at or 715- 635-2197. Residents, farmers, and businesses are welcome to attend ANY of the collections in our service area, not just the one offered in your particular county. As long as you reside in one of the counties in the service region you are eligible to use any of them; so if you miss this one you can always use a different counties collection. (with the exception of Iron County in 2020).