HOW TO SAFELY DISPOSE OF FERTILIZERS

Keeping a beautiful garden is one of the simple pleasures in life, and is a great way to enjoy nature. However, in order to keep a lush, green lawn or grow beautiful flowers, we often need to employ the help of fertilizers on a regular basis. Chemical fertilizers are often found to be most effective over natural fertilizers and are widely used. However, it’s important to make sure that when it comes to disposal of extra fertilizer, that we are handling it correctly. In this article, we discuss the proper disposal of fertilizer when it comes to waste management, so you can have peace of mind that you’re not hurting the environment when doing so.  

Fertilizer Environmental Warning

When it comes to chemical fertilizers, it’s important to make sure that they never come in contact with our water supply. This is why flushing fertilizer down the toilet or pouring it down the drain should never be an option for disposal. 

Chorbie.com tells us more on the environmental hazards that chemical fertilizers impose:

“Organic fertilizers generally pose a low environmental risk. On the other hand, chemical and Biosolid fertilizers are recognized as hazardous waste. Users should never under any circumstance throw these in the trash or down the drain. Improperly disposing of fertilizer like this will contaminate local water supplies. The reason being, these fertilizers contain phosphorus, which encourages the growth of algae. Algae will then begin to suck the oxygen out of lakes, rivers, and streams. This dangerous side effect is detrimental to fish and other creatures living in these bodies of water. When this occurs, it can quickly cause a great deal of damage to your local environment.”

Check With Your Local Gardening Store

Before checking for other disposal options, you may wish to ask your local gardening store if they could benefit from the extra fertilizer. If they are not able to use it, they may be able to dispose of it for you, or direct you on how to properly do so.

SFGate Home Guides gives their advice on what to do with your extra chemical fertilizer:

“Take your unused fertilizer in its original container with a label to a garden outlet or other business that sells gardening chemicals. Gardening stores must dispose of unused chemicals in accordance with local, state and federal regulations, so they might accept your fertilizer for recycling and disposal.”

Search For a Household Hazardous Waste Facility

Chemical fertilizer is considered hazardous waste. Therefore, if you are looking to dispose of extra chemical fertilizer, it’s important that you never toss it in your curbside bin, and that you do your research on your local household hazardous waste facility.

Recycle Nation tells us more on how to locate your local hazardous waste facility that accepts chemical fertilizers:

“Search for a local household hazardous waste facility that accepts fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on 1-800-RECYCLING.com. If none exists in your area, contact local garden supply stores to see if they will accept your unused fertilizer for proper disposal.”

We offer a wide variety of waste disposal options, including how to correctly dispose of your chemical fertilizer, with services readily available online. Reach out to us to see what we can offer you.