Take Action Burlington

On Aug. 5, 2021, we published ‘Mow green to lower emissions and noise’ to encourage Burlington residents to make the switch to battery powered and/or plug-in electric landscape equipment. Making the switch reduces greenhouse gas and air emissions and has the co-benefit of reducing noise pollution in our neighbourhoods.

One of the questions that was raised in response to this blog entry is how do I retire my gas-powered equipment to ensure it doesn’t remain in circulation and continue to emit greenhouse gases and air pollutants? Good question!

We followed up with our friends at Halton Region Waste Management Site located at 5400 Regional Road 25 in Milton and, yes, they do accept small landscape equipment with the fuel removed at the container station. There will be a small fee for this service (which can increase depending on the amount of material you are dropping off). You can also drop off the removed fuel for free at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot located at the same address.

If the fuel has been removed, you can also schedule an appointment for Metal and Appliance collection using the online form at halton.ca/waste or by calling 311. In addition, you could check with local metal recyclers in Burlington whether they will accept your landscaping equipment. However, the same procedure must be followed – any remaining fuel must be siphoned out of the engine and should be dropped off at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot. Inexpensive siphons can be purchased at local hardware stores. 

And an update on my husband – he is looking to retire the two older snow blowers in our garage (inherited from relatives) and replace them with a cleaner battery-operated snow thrower. I still prefer to shovel snow the old-fashioned way as it makes me think of my dad, but I expect that at some point in my life, a snow blower might come in handy! And I’m sure many of us are in denial, but winter is here for a while longer!

Take Action Burlington. Let’s do our part to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Collectively we can make a difference!

This post was submitted by Lynn, City of Burlington staff