Make your home S.A.F.E.

If your garage looks even remotely like mine, you need to take a trip to a S.A.F.E. (Solvents/Automotive/Flammables/Electronics) Center.

Operated by the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, S.A.F.E. Centers accept all manner of household hazardous waste which they will then dispose of properly. This includes paint, pool and garden chemicals, printer ink cartridges, motor oil, batteries, fluorescent lightbulbs (including compact fluorescents) and anything else you just know should not go into the regular landfill. 

They will also recycle e-waste like old computers, monitors, printers, cables, televisions, microwaves and the like.  

Best of all, they are open to the public every Saturday and Sunday, from 9 AM to 3PM. Two S.A.F.E. Centers are located in the Valley. One is in Granada Hills, at 10241 N. Balboa Blvd. (half a block south of Devonshire. The other is in Sun Valley, at 11025 Randall St. 

To see a more complete list of items that are accepted, visit the Bureau of Sanitation website.