Lee County offers guidance to reuse or dispose of sandbags following Hurricane Milton

Residents who picked up sand and sandbags from their local fire department in anticipation of Hurricane Milton are asked to save the sandbags for reuse, use them around their home, or properly dispose of them.

Sandbag do’s:

• Sand from bags that were not soiled by stormwater can be emptied in your  yard, flowerbeds and planters as a soil supplement.
• Consider keeping sandbags for reuse. Hurricane season doesn’t end until Nov. 30. Store them filled if you have space. Or empty the clean sand and  store the bags in a dry location away from direct sunlight.
• Place empty bags (but not sand) in your trash can if you don’t plan to reuse them.
• Sand or sandbags that cannot be reused can be taken to any of the four Lee County self-haul public debris drop-off sites:
  • 5031 Pine Island Road, Bokeelia, FL 33922
  • 50 South Road, Fort Myers, FL 33907
  • 18078 Cypress Point Road, San Carlos Park, FL 33967
  • 13801 Orange River Blvd., Buckingham, FL 33905

Sandbag don’ts:

• Don’t take sandbags back to the fire station – either reuse clean sandbags or discard soiled sandbags properly.
• Don’t place empty sandbags in the recycle bin.
• Don’t dump sand from bags onto the beach.
  • The sand is different than beach sand. This can cause issues for wildlife.
• Don’t dump sand from bags on outdoor sand volleyball pits in county parks.
• Don’t dispose of any sand or full sandbags in regular trash or yard waste collection.
  • The sand will not burn in trash incinerators and can damage equipment.
• Don’t burn sandbags in outdoor fire pits.
• Don’t dump your sandbags on private property or any unauthorized location.
  • This is considered illegal dumping. Anyone found illegally dumping may be fined.

Complete Hurricane Milton information is available at www.leegov.com/storm.