Recycling Electronics

I subscribe to “Simply Stated: Home & Organizing” blog and wanted to share a post made about some resources to recycle your electronics.

One of her recommendations however links to a site that gave me an error message but maybe the site was temporarily down – it is www.computertakeback.com, dealing with the disposal of electronics for workers and consumers.

The other site is www.gazelle.com where they offer you money for your old, unwanted electronics. They will even send you a box to mail in your electronics.

In doing my own digging around, it seems that there are plenty of services to help people dispose of their electronics. I came across eRecycle.org for electronics and there is a link there to find an eWaste recycling location near you. Might be worth checking out as another resource.

And guess what else I found? A video on YouTube “17 Ways to Recycle Your Electronic Appliances.” It has showed cool ways to recycle them as decorating items! No kidding! Here it is:

Recycle for Dollars

Good news for your old stuff

I found a website that will give you money for your old digital cameras, printers, laptops, dektops, MP3 players, LCD monitors, game systems, camcorders, and more!

Re-Gifting is in vogue

Americans admit their re-gifting ways

In a recent study released this week by a research firm Harris Interactive, it found that “78 percent of consumers who were polled felt that it was acceptable to re-gift some or most of the time.”

I don’t think many of my clients were surveyed because, when I see the clutter of gifts they keep but don’t need or want, I know they are NOT among the re-gifters!

However, I do know many of us do offer a gift we don’t want and give it to someone else as a gift. Sometimes, it’s because we don’t have time to shop for a gift (or lazy to go out and purchase a new gift), but usually it’s because it’s more suitable for someone else.

The “re” in re-gifting goes along with the “re” in recycling. How ’bout that! Better than having gifts create clutter, I say!

Why Recycle?

Things you should know…

In “O At Home” magazine Fall issue, it gives some interesting figures about recycling:

• If U.S. citizens recycled just 10 percent of our newspapers, we would save about 25 million trees each year.
• Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. Left to its own devices, glass takes one million years to biodegrade.
• Although 75 percent of what we throw out could be recycled, only 25 percent actually is.

There were many products shown in the article made from recycled material — here’s a couple things to check out:

• Paint – Robert Redford’s “Sundance Signature” house paints blended from contractor’s leftovers
• Recycled glass – from Noi, 3r Living, Oceanside Glasstile

I hope this helps you recyclers and should-be recyclers!

Garage Sale Day

Time to Clean Out

This weekend, May 13th, is National Garage Sale Day and that is time to make a little cash from your unwanted belongings.

A client recently said to me that she had dozens of towels she would never use but hated to get rid of them because they were perfectly good towels. I explained the concept of recycling and she liked it. That concept made her willing to get rid of things she didn’t need but didn’t want to wasteful about it.

So, consider going through your belongings and having a sale! Happy garage sale day!

Recycling Month

Giveaway options for your overflow

The latest issue of Domino Magazine has advice to offer your things a new home and make a difference in “Clear clutter, help others.”

For books, it says you can send them at a special low rate (U.S. media or library mail) to Books For Africa (booksforafrica.org): 253 E. 4th Street, St. Paul, MN 55101.

“They will funnel your reading material into schools and libraries in regions where it’s desperately needed.”

For furniture, your items can go to needy people referred to the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA) by social-service organizations.

“The National Furniture Bank Association accepts chairs, tables, beds, cribs, and more…There are currently 34 furniture banks (in Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle among other cities), but there will be 62 by year’s end….For the nearest furniture bank, check the website and click on “Help1Up Locator” at thenfba.org.”

Housewares and clothing can go in a Goodwill bag, the article suggests.

“When you upgrade your toaster oven or coffeemaker, pass along the still-functioning old model. Goodwill has more than 3,000 drop-off spots across the country.– goodwill.org.”

Before I go, let me suggest reading my latest newsletter feature article “Recycling Your Stuff.” And, if you should care to subscribe to this quarterly newsletter, you can subscribe on this page.

Recycling

How Often We Recycle Gifts

According to a survey by the Opinion Research for DHL, about 26% of consumers say they have recycled holiday gifts they do not want.

74% Never
23% Occassionally
3% Frequently

I’m all for it, however if you keep the gift around a little while, it may be wise to label who the gift was from so it doesn’t get regifted back to them! This may sound silly to say, but it’s happened! My own sister got her gift back one year later!

America Recycles Day

Recycling Stuff

How long have some of your belongings sat in storage or as unused space-hogs? It’s time to start thinking about recycling those unused items to donation-provider’s second-hand stores, or holding a garage sale.

November 14th marks the day — America Recycles Day. This could also be a good time to bring out those holiday decorations and, what you don’t use, sell or donate to others who are getting ready for the holiday season.

For more information about recycling, there’s an Internet Consumer Recycling Guide at:

http://www.obviously.com/recycle

Eco-makeovers

Recycling Paper in our Home

I just love my subscription to Natural Home & Garden magazine. As a professional organizer and interior decorator, the articles in this magazine combine the best elements for both — in a natural living way.

The current issue features eco-remodeling (ecologically-friendly) and provides great resources to make your home more energy-efficient while preserving our natural resources. It amazes me that doing this isn’t as expensive as we think it would be. Contrary, by spending money to save on energy and water, we save money.

There was one article in particular for recycling your paper that used paper in a remodeling way … as wallpaper! Talk about creative uses for old paper, this beats any ideas I’ve ever had!

One wall treatment was to take paper grocery bags, crumble and scrunch pieces of them (to soften them), then tear them into little pieces. Prime sections of the wall surface with 2 parts water / 1 part white glue, then apply pieces of the paper, overlapping them and brushing with the glue mixture to remove air pockets.

You can also do collage wall treatments with old phone book yellow pages (although you don’t need to crumble them).

They say the nice thing about this type of wallpaper is that you can patch it up anytime if it gets torn or marked up. Now, that’s what I call recycling!

Yard Sales

Is Your Stuff Junk or Just Stuff?

With the nice days of spring, people are dragging out stuff and playing merchants for the day. As I drive down streets, I see garage doors open or front lawns become display areas of junk. It’s like a wave that comes through neighborhoods at certain times of the year, sweeping out all the years of accumulated stuff.

I sometimes wonder if they are selling all the stuff that they purchased at other yard sales, as some of it looks recycled to death. And yet, we know one person’s junk is another person’s found treasure item.

I’ve asked myself if people know that a lot of the stuff lying around their house or garage is actually meaningless junk. It’s astounding what they determine their stuff to be once they begin going through it. I’ll ask, “What’s this?” and they often reply, “Gee, I don’t know.”

If it goes into the sale pile, we only hope that someone else will be able to determine what it is.

Some of the items that make it to the sale area however should be displayed in the landfills instead, although people just don’t want to admit they hung on to something that didn’t have meaning or value at one time or another. It’s too embarrassing for them to admit, even to themselves.

It’s hard to price these meanlingless items of junk, too. How do you put a price on something you can’t name? Yet, it must have had some value because you had it, right? So, pricing junk can be tricky.

Maybe that’s why some yard sales don’t have items marked with a price. They wait for a person to pick it up and ask, “How much is this?” and then they can reply, “How much you want to pay for it?” It looks like a negotiation, but it’s really a plea to take it at any price (and happy that they finally found a potential owner who knows what it is, most likely).

The “put it out there and they will come” is an amazing phenomena when it comes to yard sales. Imagine if everyone cleared out the stuff in their homes every year, how much extra cash that would give them? And better, how much space does that give them?

I wonder what’s more valuable — space to live in or a little extra cash? They both look good to me.

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