It just so happens that quite a few of us are holding onto a range of products that we simply don’t need but are hard to dispose of because they have harmful materials in them – things we don’t want put into landfills and cannot easily be recycled through our usual services. 

It is important to check what you can and cannot take to a Detox your Home event. Check the information about Detox your Home on the Sustainability Victoria website. 

Where possible, retain the original labels on containers. If there is no original label but you know the contents, write a label and attach it securely. If you are not sure of the contents, label the container 'unknown chemical'. Please do not guess the chemical's name.

Although there is no restriction on the number or volume of household items that you can bring, the maximum acceptable weight or size of any single container is 20 kilograms or 20 litres. Decanting isn't permitted, so bring chemicals in disposable containers.

Detox your Home events are held regularly around regional Victoria. The next Detox your Home event in the Wimmera will be held on Saturday, February 16.

For Horsham and the surrounding communities, the collection is a FREE service and at the moment happens once every two years. 

It is a complicated activity as a qualified chemist has to attend and the items have to be safely stored and transported back down to Melbourne to be disposed of appropriately. 

Detox your Home is a good opportunity for people to clean out the shed, garage or kitchen and laundry cupboards to get rid of those unwanted cleaners, oils, pool chemicals, herbicide and pesticides etc. 

There is also a permanent detox site at the Horsham Transfer Station at Kenny Road which takes batteries, CFL globes, fluoro tubes and paint at no charge all year round.