Tips/suggestions to help minimize the quantity and toxicity of hazardous waste:
- Order only what is needed. The cost of disposal of chemicals often exceeds the price of purchasing the chemical.
- Date containers when received and use older chemicals first.
- Use spirit-filled thermometers instead of mercury thermometers when possible.
- Use less hazardous or non-hazardous chemicals for experiments when possible.
- Prepare only the amount of solutions/mixtures needed for experiments.
- Reduce the number of unknowns by labeling all bottles/containers in lab.
- Scale down experiments that produce hazardous waste.