Let’s face it: Municipal recycling solutions are inadequate at best. But thankfully, there are alternatives to throwing the trappings of modern consumer life in the trash. Check out the list below, which covers just about everything except the kitchen sink (sorry, you’re stuck with that one!).

Clothing

• Eyewear— Unwanted prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses can be shipped to EYESee, an organization that matches your prescription with individuals in high-need countries including Haiti, Honduras, and Uganda.
• Shoes— New and gently used shoes can be sent to Soles4Souls, which supports small businesses in developing countries. There are drop off points located throughout the US (including at DSWs) or shoes can be shipped for free through a partnership with Zappos. Shoes that are past the point of wear can find a new home through Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe Program, which converts old athletic sneakers into new apparel and “sports surfaces,” like gym floors and playgrounds.
• Apparel— Unfortunately, most used apparel dropped off at second-hand stores never makes it to a retail rack, and instead de-rails local garment manufacturing in developing countries. Thankfully, there are several ways to do better.
  • Clothing that is still in good condition can be sold second-hand through sites such as eBay and Poshmark (if you don’t want to do the work of listing and shipping the items yourself, try ThredUp). Some items, such as children’s clothing or work wear, are often high-need items for women’s shelters or low-income school districts (check with local principals!).
  • Any apparel you aren’t able to re-home can get a second life through H&M’s Garment Collection Program, which has drop-boxes in H&M’s across the world. (This program is currently paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic… but you can use For Days Take-Back Bag in the meantime).
• Jewelry— Radical Jewelry Makeover is on a mission to eliminate the human and environmental toll of beautiful jewelry– they provide resources for jewelers to reduce their environmental impact while giving unwanted (and even broken!) jewelry a new home with talented artists and jewelers.

Health & Hygiene

• Wheelchairs, Crutches, and Canes– Rather than letting mobility aids languish in your basement or make their way to the thrift store, consider donating wheelchairs, crutches, canes, and walkers to Wheels for the World. This religious organization pairs mobility aids with high-need individuals as part of a global outreach project. If you happen to have more specialized medical equipment (like defibrillators) lying around, Project C.U.R.E. will happily take them off your hands.
• Unused Hygiene Products & Medication– Local homeless and women’s shelters, as well as organizations like the Ronald McDonald House, often identify over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and hygiene products, ranging from shampoo to toothpaste, as high-need items. Unused prescription medication (including from opened bottles) can be shipped for free to low-income individuals through #FlipYourScrip. Prescription medication donation is legal in 38 states, many of which also have local drop-off points for unopened prescription bottles.
• Makeup, toiletries, & feminine hygiene products– Project Beauty Share accepts mail-in donations of opened items including perfumes, lotions, shampoos, and hair tools (finally! a home for the hair straightener you stopped using in 2012) as well as unopened feminine hygiene products (individually wrapped ok) and makeup products.
• Empty packaging from health & hygiene items (even… yupp, I’m gonna say it… sexual health products)– Recyclable through TerraCycle.

Arts & Crafts/ Office Supplies

• Crayons— Crayons can be mailed to Crazy Crayons. Day care centers, schools, and women’s shelters may also be grateful recipients of crayons and other art supplies.
• Highlighters/ Markers— Used markers, including Expo markers, highlighters, and colored markers of any brand can be shipped to Crayola ColorCycle for recycling.
• Pens/ Pencils/ Highlighters/ Markers— Recyclable through TerraCycle’s Bic Stationary Program.
• Batteries (& Light Bulbs)– Batteries and light bulbs of all forms can be dropped off at your nearest Batteries + Bulbs location. Fees may apply (99 cents per pound of batteries), but I’ve personally never been charged for dropping off recyclables.

Home Goods

• Building supplies, working appliances, gently used furniture— Among dozens of other options (including re-sale) is donating to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore.
• Blankets & towels— Chances are, your local pet shelter desperately needs these!

Kitchen Goods

• Wine corks— ReCORK, which turns wine corks into new consumer products (like shoes and yoga mats), offers drop off points throughout the United States for unwanted wine corks. Corks can also be composted or up-cycled (fun fact: corks are notoriously buoyant, making them wonderful options for the fisher-person in your life to tie their own flies!).
• Tupperware— The most effective transition away from plastic will involve sending your unwanted Tupperware to Terracycle’s free Tupperware recycling program.
• Type 4 plastics— Plastic bags from stores, bread packaging, etc. can be recycled through store drop-off points. I’ve sometimes had trouble finding this drop-off point at Walmart, but most Home Depots offer it right when you walk in (typically across from the “store returns”, though it could vary by location).
• Food packaging— Terracycle also offers a number of free recycling options for individually-branded products, including many brands of squeeze pouches, Ocean Spray, and Gerber baby food.

Hobbies, Children’s, & Misc.

• Sports equipment you’ve outgrown— Can be sold back to Play It Again Sports (which, incidentally, is also a good resource if you are looking for gently used sporting equipment).
• Metals earned from children’s athletic events, marathons, half-marathons, and triathlons can be donated to Medals4Mettle, which supports individuals fighting cancer, chronic illnesses, and other challenges.
• Books— Can be donated to your local library, or to Better World Books, which has a mission of supporting global literacy. They have drop off points at many libraries and will also take entire class sets of old textbooks, if you happen to be a teacher!
• Broken Toys— Can be recycled through Hasbro’s partnership with Terracycle. This only applies to Hasbro branded items– but the list of included brands is several pages long, including Nerf, Play-Doh, My Little Pony, and dozens of board games.

Travel Related

• Foreign Currency– While paper money can be redeemed for USD through banks or currency exchange services, chances are you will have difficulty converting foreign coins back to American money. Instead, mail your spare change to UNICEF’s Change For Good program,

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any other re-home and recycle solutions! Together, we can make a sustainable planet to be proud of.