Gardening is a great hobby, bringing color to your home, outdoor living spaces, and even fruits and vegetables to the table! But, like with all hobbies, you’ll accumulate your fair share of gardening products for everything from preparing the soil to managing the weeds. After a few years, you can build up quite a collection of hazardous gardening products, including pesticides and fertilizer, all of which pose health risks to you and the environment when improperly used, stored, and disposed of.
Hazards
- Pesticides are designed to be toxic to pests and can harm birds, fish, pets, and humans if misused.
- While fertilizers pose little risk to humans when properly applied and stored, they can severely affect the environment when misused. Fertilizers, especially chemical and biosolid fertilizers, cannot be recycled. Learn more in our blog, Why Fertilizer is a Hazardous Household Product.
- If lawn chemicals, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and other pesticides are used in larger doses than recommended on the label, runoff can have an adverse effect on drinking water supplies and the environment.
Handling
- Avoid buying more products than you need, as they are likely to become wasted at a later date.
- Follow label instructions strictly about where and how much to apply. Avoid overuse of gardening chemicals.
- You can store fertilizers in a cool, dry place for as long as the packaging directs. Never mix fertilizers, and place liquid fertilizers in plastic bags or containers to prevent leaking. Keep it out of reach of children and pets.
- Store pesticides in original containers that are closed and labeled in a secure area out of reach of children and pets. Avoid storing pesticides in damp areas where containers may become moist or rusty. Pesticides should NOT be stored near food.
- Do not put pesticides or chemical fertilizers in the trash or down the drain.
- Use rubber gloves when handling pesticides, and use an appropriate cartridge mask if using products extensively.
- Do not use or give away banned pesticides or pesticides that are no longer registered for use. To find out whether a product is no longer registered for use in Massachusetts, contact the state Pesticide Program at 617-626-1776 or review its website: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/pesticide-program.
- For questions on specific pesticides and environmentally friendly products and procedures, such as Integrated Pest Management, contact the state Pesticide Bureau.
- For more information on identifying pesticides, their health hazards, and use and management guidelines, contact the National Pesticide Information Center.
Management Options
For an overview, see our blog, How to Safely Dispose of Gardening Chemicals.
Fertilizers:
- If you cannot use your fertilizer before it expires, ask neighbors and friends if they might be able to use it. If not, you’ll need to find a local household hazardous collection center that accepts fertilizers. You can also contact your local garden supply store to see if they accept unused fertilizer for disposal.
Banned or unregistered pesticides:
- If the pesticide is banned or no longer registered, save it in the original container and take it to a Household Hazardous Products Collection Center.
Registered pesticides:
- If the product is still registered for use, use it up according to the directions on the label or donate it to a friend or neighbor who can use it.
- If you no longer have a use for the product and are not able to give it away, take it to a Household Hazardous Products Collection Center.
Empty containers:
- Do not recycle or reuse pesticide containers.
- Empty containers should be triple rinsed and then disposed of in the trash. Take the following steps to triple rinse a container:
- Fill the empty pesticide container with cold water and use the rinse water as if it were a full-strength product, in accordance with the label instructions.
- Repeat this procedure two more times.
- Do not pour rinse water down the drain.
- Once the container is empty and triple rinsed, it can be wrapped in newspaper and disposed of in the trash.
- DO NOT triple rinse containers for banned or unregistered pesticides. Take these to a Household Hazardous Products Collection Center.
This information was brought to you by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and NEDT. For more information, including links to their guides, visit our Fact Sheets & Links page, and make sure to check out our NEDT Blog and Household Hazardous Products Resources for more in-depth information.
