How to Properly Dispose of Your Spring Cleaning Trash

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If you’ve spent your last few weekends cleaning out your cabinets, storage units, garages, etc, you’re likely to have a giant pile of junk that isn’t really suitable for goodwill, not worth keeping, but also not something you can put out with your weekly trash collection.  For example, electronics that don’t work any more, old appliances, dead batteries, leftover paint from your last renovation project, and household cleaning materials (that’s right, Windex, bleach and other household cleaners should not be disposed of down your kitchen sink), are all things that you can’t just throw in your regular trash.  So how do you get rid of them?

You have several options provided by the city that, in my experience, are all pretty quick and easy:

Bulk Hauling: If you have a few large items, an easy solution is to call 311 (or 202-727-1000) to schedule a bulk hauling appointment.  When you call, they will tell you what day your items will be picked up (usually one week later), and you just have to place your items on your sidewalk (or where ever your trash is normally picked up from) no earlier than 6:30 pm the night before.  They will pick up:

• Air conditioners (drain water and fluids)
• Hot water heaters
• Household furniture
• Large toys (kiddie pools, playhouses, disassembled swing sets)
• Major appliances, e.g., refrigerators (doors removed)
• Mattresses and bed frames
• Rugs (MUST be rolled and tied)

Yard Waste: Yard waste will be picked up with your regular trash collection  on the second day that your trash is collected each week.  So if your trash is collected on Monday and Thursday, put out your yard waste for Thursday — not ideal since most of us do our gardening on the weekends, but that’s how it is.  If your trash is only collected once a week, then that is the day they will take your yard waste.  The Department of Public Works, who manages all trash collection, will collect up to five bags (per week), based on space availability in the trucks. Yard waste is considered bagged leaves, grass clippings, weeds, bulbs, twigs, pine cones, and uprooted plants. Bundles of branches and limbs should be tied into four-foot lengths.

Please note that larger apartment buildings, condominiums and co-ops are considered commercial properties and are responsible for hiring a private, licensed hauler to collect yard waste, trash, recyclables and bulk items from these residences.

Fort Totten Transfer Station: If you have a large number of items that are not acceptable for regular trash pick up, or are not in the list accepted by bulk hauling, your ext option is the dump, known more formally as the Fort Totten Transfer Station.  You can bring just about any trash item you can list to the dump, including household hazardous waste, electronics for e-cycling, items for regular recycling, and documents that need to be shredded.

The transfer station is located at 4900 John F. McCormack Road, NE, right behind Catholic University, and is open to the pubic from 8 am until 3 pm every Saturday, except holidays.  Only residential trash is accepted — no commercial items or construction materials — and you must show proof that you live in the District.

Acceptable household hazardous waste and e-cycling items include:

• Acids
• Aerosols
• Antifreeze
• Asbestos tile
• Batteries
• Cleaning chemicals
• Drain openers
• Fluorescent light bulbs
• Furniture stripper
• Stains
• Varnish
• Fertilizer
• Lighter fluid
• Mercury thermometers and mercury containing devices
• Moth balls
• Motor oil
• Paint
• Pesticides and
• Poisons
• Roofing tar
• Solvents/thinners
• Transmission fluids
• Windshield wiper and
• Brake fluids
• Wood preservatives

Electronics Recycling Acceptable Items:

• Audio/visual equipment
• Audio cassettes
• Camcorders
• CD Rom drives CDs/DVDs
• Cell Phones
• Computers and monitors
• Connectors / Cords / Wire
• Copy machines
• Fax machines
• Floppy drives Hard drives
• Memory chips
• Network / Video / Sound cards
• Pagers
• Power supplies
• Printers
• Scrap computer plastic
• Scrap computer metal
• Tape drives
• TVs
• VCRs
• VCR tapes
• Video games & Software

Unacceptable household hazardous waste and e-cycling items include:

• Air conditioners (Call 311 for a bulk trash collection appointment.)
• Ammunition (Take to the closest police station.)
• Explosives (Take to the closest police station.)
• Latex paint (Dry out and place in the trash.)
• Medicine (Place the medicine in the trash. The empty bottle can be placed in your recycling container after removing the identification label from the bottle.)
• Microwave ovens (Call 311 for a bulk trash collection appointment.)
• Tires (Up to four tires may be taken to the Ft. Totten Trash Transfer Station, weekdays from 1 pm to 5 pm and Saturdays from 8 am to 3 pm.)
• Wooden TV cabinets or consoles (Call 311 for a bulk trash collection appointment.)