If you are like me, you’re becoming more aware of the amount of waste we have in our lives. I find myself wondering where things end up and wishing I had an easy solution that is not a landfill. Turns out, it is pretty easy to get rid of a lot of things in an eco-friendly way. Thankfully, there are organizations and companies that specialize in helping make it easier for us:
DONATE/EXCHANGE/SELL
Donate, exchange, or sell your old items.
- Go to bargainlink.com or head to local thrift shops like Goodwill or the Salvation Army to drop off your donated items.
- Donate or purchase used building items at a local Architectural Salvage or similar store. You can find some amazing old doors or home decor items as well as reclaimed wood.
- There may be a materials exchange in your area. An example of this is CalMAX. You can reuse market materials from businesses, organizations, industry, schools, and individuals.
- Buy used books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, and video games on Amazon.com on or trade them on online exchanges such as spapadvd.com, swapacd.com, paperbackswap.com, or swaptree.com
- Sell items on craigslist.com or ebay.com
- Give away your free stuff on freecycle.org
STYROFOAM
Avoid or reuse Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene). If you get a package with expanded polystyrene see if you can give the packing peanuts back to a shipping store such as The UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc., Postal Annex, or FedEx/Kinkos. Alternatively, use newspaper or shredded paper that can be recycled.
Look for a full service industrial recycler in your area who may take expanded polystyrene. Cactus Recycling is an example of this in San Diego. If you’d like more information about expanded polystyrene visit the Plastic Loose Fill Council.
#5 PLASTICS
#5 plastics are not recycled in many areas. The Preserve Gimme 5 recycling program was started to help deal with #5 plastics and Brita water filters to keep them out of the landfills and to help them transform the items into new products. You may have seen the brand Preserve’s toothbrushes and razors (I have both and love them). Those are made from #5 products! Stoyfield and Brita are currently sponsoring the program. To participate, drop off your #5 plastics and Brita filters at Whole Foods or mail directly to: Preserve Gimme 5, 823 NYS Rte 13, Cortland, NY 13045. Visit their website to get more information.
GREETING CARDS
Send used greeting cards directly to: St.Jude’s Ranch for Children, Card Recycling Program, 100 St.Jude’s Street, Boulder City, NV 89005. They make new cards out of used cards. Fantastic idea! Who knew?
SNEAKERS
If you have old sneakers (any brand, any size, any sport), drop them off at any Nike store near you or mail to: Nike Recycling Center, c/o Reuse-A-Shoe, 26755 SW 95th Ave, Wilsonville, OR 97070. The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program creates basketball and soccer fields out of used sneakers!
BABY GEAR
Donate used baby gear that is in good condition to thrift stores. If you have items not suitable for reuse send them to BabyEarth. They recycle strollers, car seats, swings, jumpers, high chairs, and diaper bags. You can dissasemble the items and recycle the metal components at your local recycling center and ship the rest of the parts to: Babyearth, RENEW Recycling Program, 21 Cypress Blvd Ste. 1120, Round Rock, TX 78665.
WINE CORKS
Yemm & Hart collects old cords and recycles them into new cork tiles and makes a variety of recycled building products. Send your natural cork stoppers to: Wine Cork Recycling, Yemm & Hart Ltd, 610 South Chamber Drive, Fredericktown, MO 63645. Alternatively, make a wine cork board or trivet for your home or as gifts.
RECYCLED PRODUCTS
When you have the option, try to purchase items that are made from recycled materials: clothing, carpets, writing supplies, packaging, etc.
Keep these addresses handy in case anyone you know mentions spring cleaning or recycling. I’m sure your knowledge will help make a difference.
(Credits – City of San Diego)
N.Parkington
Natalie lives in San Diego, California and enjoys a healthy organic vegetarian lifestyle (with chocolate as the exception...). She does what she can for the environment and is constantly making adjustments to become greener in all...
You do not need to have your own compost pit or recycling facility just to to show that you care about what is going in the world with its problem on waste management. It is a good thing that there are people who are looking for alternatives on how to maximize the use of plastic and paper products so that we do not have to cut down more trees or produce more plastic materials. In our own little ways, we can contribute in making our homes or workplace more eco-friendly. We can have our papers shredded so that they can be used on other purposes and we can collect all our used plastic bottles and containers and have them brought to organizations concerned in recycling such items.