Fire Extinguishers: Small But Mighty (and Yes, You Can Recycle Them!)

In early October, we hosted the City of Longmont Hard-to-Recycle Event and it was BIG. Over two busy weeks, we helped 1,100+ people divert some truly fantastic items from the landfill — old electronic wires, soccer-ball-size knots of Christmas lights, mattresses and box springs, piles of laptops, vintage stereo equipment, and even a surprisingly emotional reunion tour of old Xbox consoles. (Yes.. all old gaming equipment came through the doors and our team was beyond excited to get it all re-purposed, reused and/or recycled as a last measure) We even found homes for all the old 8-track players, vintage game consoles, old gaming controllers and adapters. IF you have any of these items, we always accept them FREE at our warehouse open Monday-Friday 9am to 4:30pm at 1801 Boston Ave here in Longmont.

Moments like this remind us: people want to recycle — they just need a place to take the things that don’t fit in the blue bin.

Like older Fire Extinguishers:

While sorting extinguishers one afternoon, someone picked one up and accidentally pulled the lever. Luckily, we were outside and right next to a metal dumpster — which instantly turned into a swirling ABC powder snowstorm.

We cleaned a 15-foot radius of surprise “winter” that day.

Important takeaway:

Fire extinguishers do not retire quietly.

They are still very ready to do their job… enthusiastically.

And after THAT cleanup — trust us — we are extremely motivated to handle every extinguisher CAREFULLY!

Why Recycling One Fire Extinguisher Matters

When we recycle a standard 5-lb home extinguisher, the steel shell gets melted down and used again.

This avoids:

• ~10 pounds of CO₂ emissions

• ~6 pounds of iron ore

• ~3.5 pounds of coal

• ~0.3 pounds of limestone

That’s for one extinguisher - Now picture a pallet. Or a truckload. Impact happens fast!

Where to Take Them:

1. Green Girl!! 1801 Boston Ave here in Longmont! We take extinguishers all year long: cost $20 each.

2. Boulder County HHW Facility: 1901 63rd Street in Boulder

3. Eco-Cycle CHaRM Center: 6400 Arapahoe Road, Boulder

Or drop them with us at future Hard-to-Recycle events (think next October for sure!) — preferably before any levers get pulled. 😄

Thank you, Longmont.

Whether you brought mattresses, a laptop, or a forgotten fire extinguisher from under the sink —

you made a difference and helped keep materials cycling in our community.

Small actions, done together, are how we build a cleaner, greener Colorado. We are so grateful to be a resource to the community! ;-)