Your Garage is FINALLY Sorted Out! Now What?!

Restore, Donate, Recycle

You have finally gone through it all, organized it, and now there are piles. Of stuff. You don’t want. So what now? Here’s some ideas for using, discarding or donating your unwanted “goodies.” One person’s junk is another person’s treasure! At least that’s the idea!

You might be surprised at some of the things that can actually be recycled. Take a little time to see what you have, and then decide its ultimate destination.

Furniture and clothes are pretty easy to donate, many local charities will pick these items up, including older functional appliances. Some of your items may be reusable, by you, in another form. (repaint a chair, get a new lamp shade for that lamp, and have an electrician rewire it so it will work properly…) But did you know that there are places that will recycle your old Christmas Lights? Packing Peanuts? Shoes? Even Carpet? Here’s where to go.

Recycle your old Holiday Lights. Holiday Lights Recycling Program They will recycle ALL the materials, including the cardboard in which you ship your lights! Get together with neighbors and friends and share the costs of shipping if you like. This company will give you a coupon for 15% off modern, low energy use LED holiday lights purchased on their site, in return for your old ones.

Recycle old carpeting. Stained? Smelly? Ripped? It doesn’t matter here! Carpet Recovery Organization Be sure to read about all the innovative products that are made with carpet remnants, from sound barriers to auto parts. Innovation in Carpet Recycling. Check with your local Goodwill or local carpet dealers to find other sources for recycling. “An estimated 5 billion pounds of carpet was sent to the landfill in 2003.” Do your part to reclaim this valuable resource!

Re-purpose those bags and boxes of polystyrene packing peanuts. It is a petroleum-based product, and far from ecological!! Polystyrene packing peanuts and molded foam cushioning can either be dropped off at a local location, if you have one, or sent in the mail. A great way to get rid of the stuff, and avoiding the landfill. For further information and locations, click this link.  EPS Packaging Recycling

Here is another fantastic way to recycle. Donate your old sneakers and trainers to be made into playgrounds and possibly even new shoes and sports equipment. If you have boxes of shoes in your garage (or closet) that have outlived their usefulness, give them a new life and a new chance to be useful. Reuse a Shoe “The average person living in a developed country will produce (create) between 1/2 and 1-1/4 TONS of waste each year!” (landfill-site.com)

Why are we providing this information? Because one of the services we offer includes giving our friends and clients useful information that we all need to be conscious stewards of our planet. Sure it might seem easier to just hustle everything to the curb, and never think about it again. But we have to live here, and so do future generations. Making a world safe and free of waste of all kinds benefits each and every one of us!

(Let us help you with your indoor or outdoor living needs, especially electrical. We are licensed and insured! Need a lamp rewired? We can do it. Need something hauled? We can help with that. Need something painted? We can do that too! Need shelving built? Let us build it for you! Let us be your one-stop fix-it service. We pride ourselves on our professionalism and customer service! Maybe even a toy box to be repaired?)