From Bedlam to Brilliance – 6 Unusual Recycling Resources

Spring has a Tendency to Make Us Want to Clean and Organize

Doesn’t the warmer air and more light make you want to come out of hibernation? I know it does for me, and cleaning and getting rid of items I no longer need or want is high on my list of To-Do’s. In fact, I opened up my gas fireplace and was amazed at all the dust that had collected. That started me on my mission of spring cleaning and organizing.

Part of cleaning and get rid of things is also doing it responsibly. So, before you toss, here are 6 very valuable recycling resources to help your mission now and in the future. I read this in the Parade Magazine of my Sunday, 04/20/14, newspaper. If you already read it, great, but if not, here is the information.

CFL Light bulbs – Bring your used compact fluorescent bulbs to Ikea or Home Depot. These retailers will take them for free.

Video Games – Take your old games to Walmart or Sam’s Club. They accept them in exchange for store credit.

Sneakers – Drop your old, worn-out athletic shoes at participating Nike stores for their Reuse-A-Shoe program. They’ll be ground up into building materials. Here’s a link to their store locator: http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/sl/store-locator.

Pet Fur – Send clean pet fur to Matter of Trust (http://matteroftrust.org/), a non-profit that uses pet fur to help clean up oil spills. The address to mail the donations to depends on where you live — sign up at ExcessAcesss.org for more detailed mailing instructions.

Greeting Cards – Mail them to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children (https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/recycled-card-program/). Volunteers use them to craft new cards, which are then sold to support this non-profit’s programs and services for abused, neglected and homeless children, young adults and families.

Mobile Phones – Drop them off at a Verizon store or a similar type store. These can be cleaned up for use military personnel and abused families.

Do you know any other places where we can donate? Please feel free to share. How many on this list will you be able to use?