March 29, 2001

This biweekly column tries to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about recycling, composting and the Town's solid waste program.

Q: I have some old wool socks that have worn through. Is there somewhere that recycles wool (or other) rags?

A: There are facilities that shred rags down to fiber size and sell the fiber to various industries (automotive, rug makers for matted backing, etc.) and some that take large pieces of cloth such as old flannel shirts which are cut into wiping cloths. These places don't take small donations from individuals, but they do get bales of old clothes that can no longer be worn from organizations such as Planet Aid, the Salvation Army, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Enough worn beyond use clothing is donated to such organizations that they regularly sort out and bale it up -to ship to the rag facilities. You could add your worn out socks to your next clothing donation.

Q: My microwave instruction booklet says not to use paper towels made of recycled paper because they could contain metal. Is this true? How are they made?

A: This rule would be hard to comply with completely, as nearly all paper towels have some recycled content. A distinction is usually made between pre-consumer content (factory leftovers from the previous batch of paper) and post-consumer, which is made from the paper from commercial and home collections.

A home experiment cooking a potato on a paper towel made from 100 percent post-consumer paper resulted in no sparks or other problems.

You should try to follow the manufacturer's instructions for any appliance, of course, but this one seems a little odd.

Q: I change my own motor oil. Is it really bad if I throw used oil from my car, snow blower, or lawn mower into the trash?

A: Yes, this is very bad for the environment. Used motor oil should As always be recycled - never thrown in the trash, dumped on the ground, or poured into the sewer or down the drain. Used oil contains heavy metals, which can contaminate water supplies or put lead into the air if burned in a non-specialized incinerator. And it doesn't take much to do a lot of damage. One gallon of used oil can pollute one million gallons of drinking water. Do-it-yourselfers can get rid of used oil as follows:

1. State law says that the retailer who sold you the oil MUST take used oil back (up to two gallons per day), if you have proof of purchase. Just put the oil in any non-leaking container and return to store.

2. John Carroll on Waltham Street will take used motor oil if it doesn't have contaminants such as anti-freeze, and

3. You can take it to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection on Hartwell Avenue. The next one is scheduled for April 28.

Q: A: Our computer monitor is broken beyond repair. How do we get rid Of it?

The next CRT (TVs, computer monitors) collection by the DPW will be April 21 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the DPW barn, 201 Bedford St. It is illegal to put CRTs out in the trash, and Goodwill can only accept working computer components or TVs.