Unhelpful instructions

I’ve been spending some time over the last few days clearing out six years of accumulated junk from our garage. One of the latest discoveries was an empty paint tin, left over from when we attacked the bathroom about three years ago. I like to think that I am moderately conscious of what I do to the environment, so I looked on the tin for instructions on how to get rid of it properly.  In amongst the various warnings on what to do if you accidently drink the contents or paint your eyes with the stuff (one assumes you are meant to read the instructions BEFORE you get it in your eyes) there was the friendly command "Dispose of the empty can safely".  I quite agree, but I was looking for something a little more specific. Just what does ‘safely’ entail?

To be fair, if they do include instructions on what to do with left-over paint ("Consult [company name] for advice on disposal of paint products", or words to that effect), but I don’t have the paint, I just have the empty can and some residue.

The same thing applies to batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, which kindly tell you that they have to be disposed of properly but neglect to tell you what the proper manner is.  Grrrrr

One thought on “Unhelpful instructions”

  • Hey Marcus
    Good blog on the paint waste problem. You can take the container to a Resene shop. If it’s Resene paint they take it back free (paid for by a levy when the paint was purchased) or if it’s another brand you pay a small fee for disposal.
    Product stewardship programmes like this are quite new in NZ but they are growing in number. Your suggestion that the instructions should be put on the container is a good one which I will pass on to the programme designers.Thanks.
    Cheers
    Pat

Leave a Reply