linens and towels to a women’s shelter, quality books and toys to a day care or community center, basic household supplies to a displaced persons organization, career clothes to a “return to work” program, evening clothes to the Cinderella foundation, which provides poor girls and homeless teens with dresses for their senior proms. You get the idea.
o Church and Resale shops: Whether Salvation Army, Goodwill, Purple Heart, Junior League, Hospital or Church shops, this is the easy way to return things to the value stream. Drop off the stuff. Get a receipt. Proceeds go to support the sponsoring organization’s work. Modification: Consignment shops- where you turn in your stuff, what’s accepted is put on the floor, and you get half of the proceeds on whatever’s sold.
o Downcycling and Repurposing: Maybe your old sweaters become patchwork quilts. Your old china gets shattered for mosaic frames and garden sculpture. Old t-shirts get cut into strips and become stuffed animal innards. You get the idea. Sky’s the limit here. If you can't use it, see if there's an artists coop who might be able to.
o Recycling: Paper, plastic, glass into your municipal recycling, or make a run to a recycling center.
o E-Waste: Check out earth911.org to find a local place that will take your retired electronics, computers, etc.
o Disposing in the Garbage: You should have a really small pile by now relative to where you started. Pack tightly, put it on the curb, and give some gratitude to your local sanitation worker and landfill.
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