As published in the Lafayette Today newspaper.
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Wondering what to do with all the old stuff now that you've gotten a bunch of new stuff for the holidays? Resist the urge to send perfectly useful items to the landfill. Remember that your unwanted items may be someone else’s treasure! Every year there are more and more easy and local options for donating, giving away, recycling, selling, or swapping used items.
Key Drop-Off Locations:
Goodwill Donation Center at Rheem (Rheem Shopping Center, Moraga) – accepts clothes, shoes, sporting goods and household items.
Wayside Inn Thrift (3520 Golden Gate Way, Lafayette) – accepts toys, books, clothing, shoes, sporting goods and household items.
Nifty Thrifty Shop (3467 Golden Gate Way, Lafayette) – accepts toys, books, clothing, shoes, sporting goods and household items.
Hauling Pros Recycle Center (1403-B Autocenter Drive, Walnut Creek) – all electronics (free) and appliances (small charge).
Tips for Common Items:
Sports equipment: Donate to Wayside Inn (no skate or ski equip), Nifty Thrifty, Goodwill (at Rheem), schools and youth programs. Or see if you can trade it in for new gear at Play It Again Sports. The nearest store is in Pleasant Hill at 1601 Contra Costa Blvd.
CDs, DVDs, video games: You can drop off CDs and DVDs at any Best Buy store in the U.S. Just look for the free kiosk just inside the front door. GreenDisc recycles CDs, DVDs, and video and audio tapes and their cases. You can swap, music, DVDs, or video games by mail through new services such as Swaptree, SwapaDVD, SwapaCD, and Game Trading Zone.
Kids stuff: Donate old toys to the Wayside Inn or Nifty Thrifty Shop in Lafayette or a nearby daycare center that you’re familiar with. Bring unwanted, but good quality children’s clothes, toys, books, equipment and furniture to “They Grow So Fast” at 3413 Mt. Diablo Blvd—source of the “best used kid’s clothes” and more!
Books: The Lafayette Library & Learning Center, Friends Corner Book Shop (at Library) and Lafayette Book Store all accept used books. Donate used children’s books and educational items to Books for the Barrios in Concord who distributes them to disadvantaged children around the World or send them to the Global Literacy Project.
Clothing: Donate unwanted clothes to Wayside Inn, Nifty Thrifty, and Goodwill (at Rheem). And women's business attire can go to “Dress for Success” or “Wardrobe for Opportunity.” For nicer items consider bringing them to Rosie’s Upscale Consignments at 1020 Brown Ave in Lafayette. You can also trade what you no longer wear at Swapstyle.com.
Shoes: Donate unwanted shoes to Wayside Inn, Nifty Thrifty, and Goodwill (at Rheem). Soles4Souls is a great service that collects gently worn shoes and distributes them to the needy. If your athletic shoes are too worn out to donate, then Nike will recycle them into a material that's used in sports surfaces, playgrounds, and new products. The nearest Nike store is in Emeryville.
Useful Tools & Guides:
SustainableLafayette.net/Recycle – Lamorinda Recycle Guide with Lamorinda locations that accept used items.
WasteDiversion.org - Offers a recycle wizard on the home page with the most comprehensive database of recycle locations in Contra Costa County.
Earth911.com – Offers a slick search engine to find local and Internet recycling options for just about anything.
Lamorinda Freecycle Group – Give things away to others in Lamorinda
Craigslist.org – The easiest way to sell something used.
Just think of putting stuff in the garbage as the last resort. To read success stories about how residents in Lafayette are reducing waste and living more sustainably please visit sustainablelafayette.net.
link to PDF of Lafayette Today that
included article on page 9