How to Dispose of Your De-Cluttered Items- Responsibly!
It’s (almost) Spring!
Spring gets me all fired up to clear out my space. I want throw the windows open, breathe in the fresh air, hear the birds sing. I want to live in a clutter free home that smells like fresh flowers and bread baking in the oven. I want my children to happily clean up their belongings without fighting. Have I gone too far? Probably.
But, let’s just say we DO get to the part where we go through our belongings and weed out what we don’t want. You have a giant pile of stuff to get rid of. Some of it is straightforward - recycle items, clothing to pass on to someone else - but some items are a little tougher. I know this sometimes leaves you feeling “stuck” because you can’t finish your de-cluttering mission.
I asked two of my favorite earth-lovin’, anti-waste, no-plastic-water-bottle Moms to write a post about how to responsibly get rid of difficult items. Thank you Bridget Shoquist and Megan Gauthier for sharing your knowledge!
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1. Medications
Having medication in the house that isn’t needed is extra clutter and unsafe for many reasons including the obvious – curious kids. Any medications you do keep, put in a place out of reach of children and even better in a locked receptacle. This way you have a safe place to lock them out of reach from anyone but the intended person.
Now for the medications you no longer need . . .
There have been tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals found in our drinking water due to various reasons, but one reason is from flushing medications down the toilet. Do not dispose of medications down the toilet! Some pharmacies will no longer take certain medications for safety reasons however most police stations will take them free of charge, no questions asked! I would call ahead of time to make sure they take the specific medication you’re dropping off to save a hassle.
Also, before dropping off, make sure your personal information is taken off the bottle by removing the label or blacking out your name.
Medication drop-off locations:
Ask your local CVS or Walgreens
Contact your local Police Station
Check your county website for specific locations and take-back program dates
2. Batteries.
Regular alkaline, single use batteries like AA or AAA can go in the trash. These types of batteries don’t contain heavy metals, so there is nothing to recycle. If you want to have less of an impact on the environment, buy rechargeable batteries.
All other types of batteries, rechargeable included, need to be recycled.
Here are some locations for battery drop-off depending on the type of battery:
· Check your County website/Community Center for local places
· Target
· IKEA
· This website (https://www.call2recycle.org/locator/) gives specific sites near you
3. Light Bulbs.
Light bulbs can and should be recycled as there are mercury components in CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) and other fluorescent lights. Mercury is only released if the light is broken which is why recycling is so important. Earth911.com is a great site that allows you to search for the specific light and gives you a local drop-off site to recycle. This site not only gives store locations but even gives information for local recycle programs and mail-in options. After you find the location online, double check the site takes your exact bulb - call before you go!
IKEA will also recycle light bulbs.
As you may have noticed by now, I have used earth911.com with everything because it has just about EVERYTHING recyclable on their site. Super helpful resource!
4. Apparel.
How excited are you to be able to see your favorite clothes again? For the clothes that you are ready to part with, there are many donation centers. Potentially the most convenient place to donate your clothes is Goodwill. Any items that are too worn for wear will then be sent to textile recycle factories. YAY! Other places you can check into would be your local church, homeless shelters, or community center.
Here is a list of other ideas:
· Dress for Success – If you have professional apparel, this is a cool place to donate to specifically help women! (https://dressforsuccess.org/)
“Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.” Find your local affiliate here (https://dressforsuccess.org/affiliate-list/)
· Zappos for Good (https://zapposforgood.org/)
· Soles4Souls (https://soles4souls.org/)
5. Linens.
How many extra sheet sets do you need? How many towels-turned-to-rags do you need? Time to donate! The Animal Humane Society would love to take old sheets, towels, and blankets to make beds for their animals. If you feel you have some more use of them, you can turn them into dusting rags, painting rags, or garage rags. But if you feel this will still be clutter – give them to an animal who would love them.
If there is no animal shelter near you, search www.earth911.com because if there isn’t a store, they will give a mail-in option. Have I said how much I love this website?
6. Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are everywhere! And I’m not just talking the shopping bags from the grocery store. I mean produce plastic bags, bread bags, shipment packaging, product packaging – you get the idea. You unfortunately cannot put any plastic packaging (such as amazon purchased items) in the recycling bin. However, guess what website can tell you where to go??? That’s right! Earth911.com will tell you by the resin identification code (AKA the little number in the recycling logo). These numbers are used to sort plastic for processing as not all plastics are processed the same.
Make sure your bags and clean and dry. If you used a bag for raw meat or poopy diaper, throw it in the garbage.
Some common places that may accept plastic shopping bags are:
· IKEA
· Target
· Walmart
· Local grocery stores
6. Corks
Where are my wine drinkers?! I love wine and why not feel good about saving those corks in a cute (upcycled) glass jar for décor and then recycle them? There are some mail-in programs but also local places that recycle these babies. Wine corks cannot be reused for wine but can be reused for corkboards (my other favorite use aside from wine, VISION BOARDS!!), coasters, shoes, yoga blocks and much more. Fun fact: Cork is a natural, raw material that comes from the Cork Oak Tree, harvesting does not do harm to the tree as it is harvested from the bark. Cork can be harvested after the tree has reached maturity after 25 years, then can be re-harvested about every 9 years.
Here are some cork recycling ideas options:
· ReCork (https://recork.com/) – local drop off sites
· www.earth911.come – drop off and mail-in options
Happy Decluttering and Disposing!