With spring cleaning time in full swing, Santa Barbara County is offering a free way to get rid of such things as rusty old paint cans, used motor oil, and electronics that otherwise might be hard to discard.

Drop them off at the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Collection Event, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, April 8, at the Santa Ynez Valley Recycling and Transfer Station, 4004 Foxen Canyon Road, Los Olivos.

The collection is available to residents of the county’s unincorporated area and the city of Solvang.

Acceptable items include automotive fluids, cleaners, paint, pesticides, fluorescent tubes, batteries, and other common household products.

Residents also can bring unwanted electronics — computers, TVs, cell phones, printers, stereos, CDs, DVDs, and video and cassette tapes.

Other acceptable items include unwanted household medications and home-generated sharps (needles and syringes). Sharps must be delivered in rigid, puncture-proof containers.

Controlled substances, such as narcotics and some prescription medications, will not be accepted and should instead be disposed of through Operation Medicine Cabinet.

The county offers free hazardous waste collection events twice a year in the Santa Ynez Valley.

Residents can also recycle antifreeze, automotive batteries, motor oil, oil filters, and latex paint at the county’s ABOP facility at the Santa Ynez Valley Recycling and Transfer Station, which is open 9 a.m.-noon every Saturday.

Each of the county’s transfer stations accepts electronic waste from residents year-round during normal operating hours at no charge.

For those living in other areas of the county, numerous collection centers are available countywide. Some are operated by the county Public Works Department, others are run by local cities or private waste management companies.

For more information about local hazardous waste collection programs, call 882-3615 or visit the county recycling website, www.LessIsMore.org.

— Lael Wageneck for Santa Barbara County Public Works.