Recycle
Art Supplies
Crazy Crayons: crazycrayons.com
The CRAYON RECYCLE PROGRAM takes unwanted, rejected, broken crayons to a better place, where they’ll be recycled into fresh, new crayons. The program has drop-off bins nationally.
Books
Access Books: www.accessbooks.net
The goal of ACCESS BOOKS is to provide high interest, enjoyable reading materials to provide to school and community libraries. Research has validated the close correlation that exists between successful reading and the number of books in school libraries. In fact, the size of the school library collection is the best predictor of academic achievement. Among school and community predictors of academic achievement, the size of the school library collection and staff is second only to the absence of poverty. The more books children have access to in their school libraries, the more they will read.
Friends of the Library: www.lapl.org
Most San Diego area libraries have book sales to raise money for local library projects. To see if your local library will take your good-condition books visit www.encinitaslibfriends.org
Bras
Uplift Project: www.upliftbras.org
For women in disadvantaged communities a bra is often unobtainable or unaffordable. This project collects new and second hand bras and sends them wherever we have requests. .
Cassettes, Videos, Diskettes
Green Disk: www.greendisk.com
Now there is one place to responsibly and securely dispose of all your computer-related waste, spent supplies and obsolete accessories. GreenDisk handles all your technotrash disposal needs from a CD to a PC and just about everything in between. You can stop worrying about what to do with all of that old technotrash piling up in your office, store room, attic, or garage. Let GreenDisk safely and securely destroy your old data, recover reusable components, and recycle all of the rest of your accumulated technotrash – all at your convenience, at home or at work. whether we’re working one-on-one or with a team. If your wiling and able to do homework between sessions on multi-session projects, the process will go much faster.
CHILDREN’S MOVIES/DVDS
Kid Flicks: www.kidflicks.org
Kid Flicks was founded by the Barta sisters in the Spring of 2002. We were doing some “Spring cleaning” and realized we had a number of DVDs we had either outgrown or no longer watched. Since a friend of ours had been treated for Leukemia and we knew that she watched movies to help her pass the time and distract her while she was in the hospital, we took our movies to the Pediatric Oncology Department of the Los Angeles hospital where she had been treated. When we dropped off our donations, the Child Life Specialist told us that “movies are the first things kids ask for when they are in the hospital.” That afternoon we decided to collect as many DVDs as possible to donate to as many hospitals as possible. We wrote solicitation letters to family and friends, and within the first week, we had over 100 movies. Donations continued to pour in. We decided that each hospital would receive a “movie library” of 100 assorted films that appeal to boys and girls, toddlers through teenagers. Whenever we had another 100 movies, we found another hospital to donate them to. With your DVD donations, we create video libraries for Children’s Hospitals and Pediatric Wards.
Children’s Toys and Books
Children’s Book Project: http://sites.google.com/site/childrensbookprojecttest
Home The Children’s Book Project was founded to help build literacy by providing free, new and gently used books to children who need them. Have given away over 1.5 million books and have helped thousands of children build home libraries.
Gently used toys may be donated to local thrift stores, women’s shelter’s, churches, and children’s hospitals. See, also Child’s Play Charity: www.childsplaycharity.org
Teddy Bear Brigade: www.TeddyBearBrigade.com is a program of a Humanitarian Aid organization called the Gleaning For The World. The Teddy Bear Brigade collects donations of new and gently “loved” stuffed animals. These stuffed animals are provided to children around the world that are facing some of life’s toughest situations.
CLOTHING/SHOES, BOOKS, FURNITURE/KITCHEN STUFF
Cotton from Blue to Green: www.cottonfrombluetogreen.org
The Cotton. From Blue to Green denim drive is a call-to-action to donate denim and give it “new life” by converting it into Ultra Touch Denim Insulation. The insulation is then provided to communities in need to assist with building efforts.
Safe Passage Lives: www.safepassagelives.org
The vision of Safe Passage, a division of Women Crowned In Glory began ten years ago from the giving spirit of Trish Steele. A woman of integrity and compassion, Ms. Steele allied her friends and supporters together to create a Non-Profit 501(C)3 Corporation to shelter, educate, equip and direct women and their children to safety and survival of domestic violence.
Corks
ReCork: recork.org
We are partners in recycling. ReCORK by Amorim (previously ReCORK America) is a natural wine cork recycling program. The ReCORK program is sponsored by Amorim of Portugal, the world’s largest producer of natural cork wine closures, SOLE, a leading manufacturer of footwear products, and Amorim’s U.S. sales affiliates – Amorim Cork America and Portocork America. The goal is to recycle corks and to educate and inform our audiences about the crucial role cork forests play in curbing climate change.
Construction Materials
PlaneTreuse: www.planetreuse.com
PlanetReuse expertly matches materials with designers, builders and owners to save projects money, serve LEED efforts and sustain the planet.
Electronics
BuyMyTronics :www.buymytronics.com/
Looking for a place to sell used electronics? BuyMyTronics will buy your used cell phones, iPods, iPads and other Apple products, digital cameras, tablets, and much more. Why? It reduces e-waste in the environment and increases the money in your wallet. It’s as easy as finding your product, getting a free quote, and sending it our way (shipping’s on us.) Now, sit back and relax! Once your ‘tronic reaches our headquarters we will process your gadget and send you your cash! Read below to get all of the details.
Cash for your Gadgets: Gazelle: www.gazelle.com
Gazelle wants to change the world – one cell phone, one laptop, one iPod at a time. It is our purpose – and our promise – to provide a practical, rewarding way for people to finally rid themselves of all those old cell phones, digital cameras, and gaming systems that they no longer use, but can’t seem to find a way to let go of. Too often when people think of recycling, they rush straight to smashing things into bits for parts. We believe that reuse should always come first. If your GPS unit still works, why not keep it in circulation AND get paid for it? If reusing isn’t in the cards, then let us recycle that vintage camcorder. We think of it as ReCommerce.
Free
Free Cycle: www.freecycle.org
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,864 groups with 7,603,875 members around the world. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on ‘Browse Groups’ above the search box.
Junk Mail
Do It Yourself to Stop Junk Mail, E-Mail, and Phone Calls: www.obviously.com/junkmail
National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt-Out Site: www.yellowpagesoptout.com
The mission of the Yellow Pages Association is to lead, serve, grow and advocate for the Yellow Pages Industry. They have committed to taking a leadership position in guiding their members to integrate responsible, innovative, and sustainable business practices that benefit a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.
Catalog Choice: www.catalogchoice.org
Sign up and search our growing list of catalogs, coupons, credit offers, phone books and other unsolicited mailings. Find catalogs and junk mail you want to manage. We’ll work on your behalf to opt you out of the mailings you’ve identified.
DMA Choice: www.dmachoice.org
DMA choice is an online tool developed by the Direct Marketing Association to help you manage your mail. For the purposes of this site, direct mail is divided into four categories: Credit Offers, Catalogs, Magazine Offers and Other Mail Offers. You can request to start or stop receiving mail from individual companies within each category—or from an entire category at once.
Paperless
Catalog Choice: www.catalogchoice.org A free service to opt out of catalogs, coupons, credit card offers, phone books, circulars and more.
Unsolicited Mail, Telemarketing and Email: Where to Go to “Just Say No”: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts
Professional Women: Attire/Handbags/Purses
Dress for Success: www.dressforsuccess.org The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Founded in New York City in 1997, Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization offering services designed to help our clients find jobs and remain employed. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and can return for a second suit or separates when she finds work.
Purses and Pockets with a Purpose: www.facebook.com/pages/Purses-And-Pockets-With-A-Purpose-Inc
Founded in February 2009, PURSES AND POCKETS WITH A PURPOSE, INC. (PPWAP) was established to package hope in a purse or pocket wallet for women and men experiencing the challenges of life. Her vision included creating a ‘living life on P.U.R.P.O.S.E. Road Map bundled with personal care items and a donated purse so those in need could see a new path toward living a life filled with purpose and peace. At PPWAP, our sole goal is to alleviate the socio economic, health and well being challenges that kill desire, block opportunity, thwart achievement—thus, hinder self empowerment by providing a roadmap towards a “purposeful life."
Recycling Unusual Items
Printer Ink: Quill: www.quill.com
Packing Peanuts (and other packing supplies): www.loosefillpackaging.com
Old Sneakers/Tennis Shoes: www.nikereuseashoe.com
Wine Corks: www.yemmhart.com
Sell Your Stuff
E-Bay: www.ebay.com
Craigs' List: www.craigslist.com
Pay Pal Giving Fund (formerly Mission Fish): www.paypalgivingfund.org It allows sellers to give proceeds from their sales to a favorite nonprofit, and helps nonprofits raise funds by selling on eBay too. Nonprofits can also receive donations from eBay users through the Donate Now feature, which lets anyone with a PayPal account, donate to nonprofits right away –without buying or selling anything.
Shoes (Sneakers & Tennis)
Nike Reuse-a-Shoe: www.nikereuseashoe.com
See how the Reuse-A-Shoe program takes your worn-out kicks and turns them into Nike Grind, a material used in sports surfaces, playgrounds and even new Nike products.
Soles 4 Souls: www.soles4souls.org
Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Shoe companies, retailers, and individuals can donate footwear (both new and used). Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS, and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages.
One World Running: www.oneworldrunning.com
One World Running is an international program promoting an awareness of health, fitness and nutrition by providing running shoes to those in need in the United States and around the world. We also put on 5K walk/runs to foster an environment of exercise and to increase understanding and goodwill between people.
Soccer
Peace Passers: www.peacepassers.org
Soccer balls, shoes, socks and uniforms are needed. This can be done through direct contribution of supplies and/or through monetary donations for shipping fees. We challenge you to share that joy, to join us in spreading the peaceful vibe through donating soccer supplies to countries and areas less fortunate than our own.
Trophies
Lamb Awards: www.lambawards.com/recycle
We’ve recently begun a program to help find a new home for your very old trophies so that they avoid the landfill. We will either donate matching sets to charities in need or break the trophies down for parts. These parts will go on to other trophy winners. The Special Olympics referred us to this company.
Wedding Dresses
Brides Against Breast Cancer: www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org
Proves an opportunity for metastatic breast cancer patients’ dream or wish to be fulfilled by providing a special time of ‘Making Memories’ together with their families, a chance that might not have become a reality without the assistance of the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation.
Wheelchairs
Wheels for Humanity: www.ucpwfh.org
DONATIONS of equipment accepted. Wheels for Humanity accepts donations of newer (5 years or less) manual and power wheelchairs, and other durable medical equipment, for distribution overseas. Check the website for local drop-off centers.