Protect your home and help to create a safer Rhode Island for all residents by attending the upcoming Johnston Eco-Depot collection – hosted by Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp. – on Saturday, April 4 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Central Landfill, located at 65 Shun Pike in Johnston.

This Eco-Depot is available free of charge to Rhode Island residents only, and to help reduce time spent in line, appointments should be made in advance.

Created in 2001, the Eco-Depot program is a free service offered by Resource Recovery that provides for the proper handling, packaging, storage, transportation and disposal of household hazardous waste. Since its inception, Resource Recovery has collected approximately 9.9 million pounds of household hazardous waste and served more than 120,000 Rhode Islanders. With numerous collection dates and events held at several satellite locations throughout the state, Rhode Island’s Eco-Depot program is unlike any other household hazardous waste collection in the country.

“We’re making it easy for Rhode Island residents to dispose of their household hazardous waste this season,” said Joe Rotella, special waste manager for Resource Recovery. “With a simple appointment process that allows for quick and easy drop-offs, we hope more residents will join us in creating safer homes and a healthier environment for all Rhode Islanders.”

Many common household items are actually household hazardous waste materials that cannot be collected through Rhode Island’s standard trash and recycling collection services. These materials include: fluorescent light bulbs, gasoline, pesticides, oil-based paints, disinfectants, used motor oil and lawn and pool chemicals. When not properly collected and disposed, these materials can cause harm to the local environment by contaminating Rhode Island’s waterways. For a full list of household hazardous waste materials, please visit www.ecodepotri.org.

This upcoming collection in Johnston is one of 45 Eco-Depot collections hosted throughout the state in 2015. To make an appointment for the collection or to view the entire 2015 Eco-Depot schedule, visit www.ecodepotri.org or call 942-1430, ext. 241.