In searching for recycling sites, I found this interesting website about alternatives to throwing items away. I’m not sure who wrote it, but the website is:
http://www.hevanet.com/alexwest/essays/reuse2.html
If you have ever wondered who would want that old or discarded item that otherwise would go into your trash, check out the list below. Since I live in Portland, Oregon, this list primarily describes resources available in the Portland area, but many of these resources are national chains or have equivalents in any city, or can be reached from anywhere.
Also, some other regions and towns maintain their own recycling directories.
Some of the groups listed below will take even broken or used up items, either to recycle the items or to reuse them. To make such groups easier to spot in this list, a relevant portion of their entries will be this color. As far as soiled or stained items (e.g. furniture or clothes), not all groups want them; you should contact the group in question first before arriving in person to donate.
Featured Site of the Moment
From time to time, I shall choose a particular Website to draw attention to. Sometimes this will be one of the sites already on this list that I feel deserves more notice; other times it may not be a waste reduction site at all, but instead something related which I feel readers of this Webpage might be interested in.
Many people who find their way to this Webpage do so because they wish to help protect the environment. Such people might be interested in the currently featured site of the moment, the Rainforest Site, which offers opportunities to aid in the conservation of rainforests, just by clicking.
Previously featured sites are listed in the archives.
Aquaria (and parts and related items)
The group Freshwater Aquarium Enthusiasts NorthWest would be happy to take: working aquarium equipment (filters, heaters, test kits, lighting, etc.); non-working but fixable equipment; tanks of all sizes; stands & hoods for tanks. If you have any fish or aquatic plants that you no longer want, they will take those as well.
Also, despite the name, they will accept saltwater tanks, but no other saltwater equipment or creatures at this time. To contact them, write to group founder Jon Passmore at pdxfishguy@yahoo.com.
Batteries
Batteries often contain toxic materials, so it is worth it to try to recycle them. For household rechargeable batteries, try your local Radio Shack. For car batteries or other lead-acid batteries, try calling Battery X-change Inc. at (503) 232-6584.
Bicycles (and parts and related equipment)
The Community Cycling Center will take donations of anything related to bikes, especially during their annual holiday drive in which they build bikes for needy children.
Books
You could always sell them to Powell’s bookstore (or some other bookstore that handles used books). Title Wave Books might very well take any books you have that Powell’s is not interested in, and then you would be helping out the Multnomah County library system.
Or, if you are willing to put in a bit more effort, you could “release” your books through BookCrossing.com.
Clothes
Easy category: Goodwill, the Salvation Army and many other charities that take clothes donations exist in most towns in the U.S. If you are housebound, in many areas the ARC will come by and pick them up. You could donate them to Volunteers of America Oregon. Also, Human Solutions works with low-income families, and will happily take donations of clothes and shoes.
If you specifically have women’s business clothes that you wish to part with, Dress for Success will take them.
Should you find yourself in possession of a shoe without a mate, those can be given to Oregon Artificial Limb. Call them first (503-231-4876) because they do not always have room for more donations.
Also, for those that live in or near Eugene, Oregon, clothes (and many things from the ‘Computers’ and ‘Household Items’ categories below) can be donated to Womenspace. I imagine that other organizations that aid battered women would take such in-kind donations as well.
Compact Discs
Two of the many places that buy used CDs in the Portland area are Everyday Music and Music Millennium.
Computers (and parts and related equipment)
If they still run, try donating them to your local schools. If they do not still run, give them to Free Geek.
Crayons
Old crayons (including stubs or pieces) are remade into new forms at Rebecca’s Recycled ‘Riters.
Eyeglasses
Lions Clubs International will recycle eyeglasses (including reading glasses, and sunglasses with or without a prescription).
Food
If you work for a business looking to give away, for example, leftover food from a catering event, you can get some help from Metro’s Food Donation Guide. If you are a private individual looking to donate food, try a local soup kitchen, or the Oregon Food Bank. If you are looking to donate pet food, see the section on pets at the end of this page.
Furniture, Appliances, Tools, Hardware, Building materials, etc.
Many things in these categories can be donated to The ReBuilding Center. Or try the Portland, Oregon branch of Habitat for Humanity‘s ReStore.
Volunteers of America Oregon will take many items in these categories, but no building materials and only small appliances.
Another option is the Oregon Community Warehouse. They aid families who are struggling financially. They take all kinds of furniture, linens, dishware and other kitchenware, vacuum cleaners and other household appliances. But they do not do repairs, and they will not take certain items themselves if they are too big. However, if someone has a really large item (e.g. a freezer, a washer, a doctor’s X-ray machine, a jungle gym or a portable shed) that is not too old, OCW has a list of over 600 case managers and can help hook you up with a taker.
Also, Journeys of the Heart has taken an old futon — will they take yours?
Gift-giving and shipping materials
- Cards (Christmas cards, etc.): This came as a surprise to me when I first heard of it, but there are places that will take used cards and reuse them. One such organization is the Straight Ahead Shelter in Cornelius, Oregon.The Straight Ahead Shelter does not appear to have a Website at this time, so here is their contact information:
Straight Ahead Shelter PO Box 699 Cornelius, OR 97113 Phone: (503) 357-7543
- Packing peanuts (or other loose foam bits): Commercial mailing services will take these. In Portland, call Metro at (503) 234-3000 for a referral. There is also a national number: 1-800-828-2214.
- Packing foam in large blocks: Wastech will take them (if they are type #6). Call them at (503) 285-5261 for more information.
Hair
No, I’m not kidding. Have you ever wondered where they get the hair to make wigs? The group Locks of Love will take your hair (at a length of 10″ or more at a time, please) and make it into wigs for children undergoing cancer treatments, or who have other medical reasons why they do not have hair of their own.
Hearing aids
Lions Clubs International will recycle hearing aids, and they have many hearing aid recycling centers worldwide, including one in Portland.
Household items (not covered elsewhere)
Extra coat hangers will often be accepted at your local dry cleaners.
If your local recycling won’t take “aseptic” cardboard boxes (many juice boxes are of this type), try www.aseptic.org for more information.
For things such as blankets and any personal hygiene items: if the items are unwanted but have not yet been opened (such as white elephant gifts from Great-Aunt Eleanor), the United Way will take them. The United Way aids refugees the world over.
Or, you might try Human Solutions.
Animal shelters will not only take donations of blankets and pet food, but also other things that are perhaps less obvious, such as towels, (clean) rags, crates, bowls and tennis balls. For a list of some animal shelters, see the section on pets at the end of this page.
If you are trying to get rid of something that is physically attached to your house, like a tub or a cabinet, try The ReBuilding Center.
Magazines
Of course, it is fairly easy to recycle magazines (see Metro if you need help with this). But if you want to donate them (esp. current ones) somewhere where they will actually be read, try your local nursing homes, assisted-living centers, or the Veterans Hospital.
Plants and gardening materials
If you have plants that you no longer want, you can get rid of them and help fund pet spaying and neutering at the same time by contacting Pet Over-Population Prevention Advocates.
School supplies
Kids from financially strapped families can always use these, and teachers do a lot of work filling in the gaps. You can too, by giving those old rulers or pens or what have you to Schoolhouse Supplies.
If what you have is an advanced calculator, you might well be able to sell it to a student at your local college. For example, Portland State University has areas where you can post an ad to sell your calculators and used textbooks.
Telephones
Telephones of all kinds (especially newer ones) often contain toxic materials, so it is worth it to try to recycle them.
For cellular telephones, try www.recyclewirelessphones.org or Free Geek (see next paragraph).
For all other telephones (and for headsets that plug into telephones), give them to Free Geek. Free Geek will take them even if they do not work; in fact, they’ll take them even if they are in pieces.
Toys
If they are pet toys, try an animal shelter. (For a list of some animal shelters, see the section on pets at the end of this page.) If the toys are for children, Human Solutions might well take them.
Vehicles
Do you have a vehicle that is still in working order, but that you don’t want anymore? Of course you could sell it, but if you wanted to donate it to a good cause, Volunteers of America Oregon will take cars, trucks, motorcycles, even boats.
Miscellaneous / Further Information
For information about items not covered in the above list, try the following places:
- Metro’s online guide, which has a searchable database of recyclers near any address in the Portland metro area (or you can call them at (503) 234-3000).
- Many things can be donated to SCRAP.
- More information on waste reduction and recycling (some of it international) can be had at Webdirectory’s recycling site.
- Community Environmental Services at Portland State University offers a wide variety of free services to businesses interested in waste reduction and recycling. Businesses can call CES manager Dan Blue or email him directly: (503) 725-8448; blued@pdx.edu.
- Businesses can also investigate WRAIN, the Waste Reduction Action Information Network.
- Nothing above is quite what you need? The city of Portland maintains a long list of groups and businesses that do some recycling.
- Reading the Back Fence (which is in the Living section of the Oregonian). It has many times discussed which organizations might want food, antiques, empty prescription bottles, et al. I might put some of their information here when I have more time, but they will always remain a useful resource.
There are Websites out there on which people post listings of things they wish to give away.
- Freecycle Portland (the first of the Freecycle groups was started in March 2003 in Tucson, AZ, and Freecycle Portland has found homes for several broken items)
- The Portland branch of Craig’s List (look for the word “free” in the “for sale” section)
- The Community Nonprofit Resources Group maintains a Classifieds section for wanted/offered items (both free and for sale), but you have to be a CNRG member to use it.
- Excess Access matches up donors (both businesses and households) with organizations that can use the donors’ stuff. This group might be most helpful to anyone with an ongoing, diverse list of things to get rid of, as there appears to be a fee for their services.
There are also Websites out there on which people engage in barter and trade (which Freecycle, for example, does not allow).
- The Portland branch of Craig’s List (look for the word “barter” in the “for sale” section)
- Portland Barter and Trade
And what about pets?
Unfortunately, we do live in a world in which some people dump unwanted animals almost like they are trash. Thus, I thought I should tack an extra section on at the end of this list.
For those who would like to find a good home for a pet, its offspring or other unwanted (or wanted but “un-keepable”) animals, a good place to start is the Oregon Humane Society. The Cat Adoption Team is a no-kill shelter in Sherwood, OR, and its Website has an excellent list of other no-kill shelters in or near Oregon. For dogs, there is Border Collie Rescue, and there are similar Rescues for many of the major breeds (e.g. dachshunds) all around the country; these groups can often be found by searching the Web. Also, specifically for rabbits, you might get at least some useful advice from Rabbit Advocates. For fish and aquatic plants, see the Aquaria section above.
Any of the above organizations would be happy to take appropriate donated items, including pet food, blankets, pet toys, etc.
Another possibility: Freecycle Portland (mentioned in the previous section) can be used to try to find new homes for pets.
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