Cleaning out the garage as summer is winding down? The Development Authority of the North Country, in cooperation with its regional county partners and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is sponsoring three free household hazardous waste collection days this Fall to help residents in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Lewis counties properly and safely dispose of certain hazardous materials. 

The collection days will be September 9 from 8 a.m. to noon in Lowville at the Lewis County Transfer Station; September 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Canton at the St. Lawrence County Human Services Building and; October 7 from 8 a.m. to noon in Watertown at the Jefferson County Highway Garage. 

Items such as leftover solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, oil-based paints, latex paints, and aerosol cans that still have product in them will be accepted, as well as fluorescent light tubes. Empty aerosol cans, motor oil, asbestos, tires, construction debris and explosives will not be accepted. Electronic waste (televisions, computers) will not be accepted, it can be recycled at most country transfer stations. 

Leftover paint, both latex and oil-based, will be accepted and recycled. If you don't want to wait for a collection event, residents can now recycle their unwanted paint year-round through a non-profit organization called Paint Care. Through the Paint Care program, several paint retailers - although not all - in the tri-county area will accept leftover paint for recycling. Check www.paintcare.org for details and locations. Empty paint cans of either type should be dried out and disposed of in the trash.

In addition, unwanted or unused prescription and over-the-counter medications from residential households only will be collected by law enforcement at the Canton and Watertown events.

The free collection events are open to residential households only; waste will not be accepted from businesses, schools, farms or municipalities. 

For a complete listing of what will and will not be accepted at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days, please visit www.northcountryrecycles.org.  There you can also find tips on how to dispose of items that will not be accepted at the events.