SPRING CLEANING CIRCULARITY SUSTAINABILITY
Spring time is usually noted for spring cleaning, and aside from the usual organizing, wiping, dusting, disinfecting, rearranging, and etc. I’ve been decluttering a lot lately. Keeping climate change in mind and realizing how much our planet Earth has been going through so many changes, I’ve discovered various programs and started adapting new habits. I always hated the idea of throwing things away because of how it ends up in landfills, so always donate to help out the charities for your community and recycle to save the planet. Almost everything can be re-used or re-purposed so I’ve made a list of programs that you can use to keep your home clean, organized, and happy–in a way that is fast and free!
GIVE BACK BOX
Give Back Box partners with many retailers like Amazon, Nordstrom, Lego, and much more and these retailers encourage you to use the box from your order to donate and recycle items you have at home. You can use any other box or poly bags you have and download as many free labels as you like and donate or upcycle almost everything with exception to certain items with the additional option to get a tax deduction receipt after, if you sign up for an account. Drop it off at any UPS store making sure it is not more than 70 pounds or have UPS come pick up your packages for one flat fee by requesting the service by phone or your UPS account.
ZAPPOS FOR GOOD
Zappos has always had a purposeful company mission founded by an amazing CEO who always encouraged core values revolving around humility and genuinely cared about people. I was excited to find out that by no surprise that they have Zappos For Good including a lot of other programs that you can give back to people and re-purpose your items. Click on the program of your choice for a free label and be sure to have a Zappos account to download the label.
–SOULS 4 SOULS: Soles4Souls turns unwanted shoes and clothing into opportunity—providing relief, creating jobs, and empowering people to break the cycle of poverty. Donate new and gently used shoes and apparel.
–KIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION: By providing new school supplies to children in need, the Kids in Need Foundation ensures every student is prepared to learn and succeed in the classroom. Donate new school supplies and backpacks.
–SPREAD THE WORD: Spread the Word Nevada is dedicated to advancing childhood literacy within low-income communities by changing lives one book at a time. Donate new and gently used books.
–BLUE JEANS GO GREEN (DENIM RECYCLING BY COTTON): Recycle denim composed of at least 90% Cotton with all paper and plastic removed. Recycle your old denim and reduce textile waste.
–NATIVE SHOES REMIX™ PROJECT: Recycle shoes in any condition. Shoes are recycled, repurposed, and given new life in community projects, such as playgrounds.
ELECTRONICS
There’s many places that you can recycle electronics and technology, but the best and fastest way to do so would be through Apple and Dell’s electronics recycling program. It is free and fast and you can download a free label to send it off or have it picked up if it’s too heavy.
–APPLE RECYLCING PROGRAM: Recycle for free and print your free label–find out more here.
–DELL TECHNOLOGIES: Recycle your computer equipment through their mail-back program. Dell wants to make it easy to responsibly recycle your unwanted technology for free. Just print a pre-paid shipping label, box up your items and drop them off at a local mailing center or schedule a pickup.
THREDUP
I wish I had known about ThredUp a long time ago, but I was always selling on other marketplace platforms first and only recently started using this to donate and recycle. What I love most about this is that it is a free USPS label and I can schedule free pickups for the mailman to take away! When you signup for a ThredUp account you can choose the option to donate by requesting a cleanout kit and the dashboard in your account keeps track of all the free donation kits you’ve ordered, your tax deduction receipts, and tracking number.
AND BEFORE YOU GO
There are a few more tips to saving money and speeding up the process to saving time for packaging boxes, printing, and sending it all off.
While it is nice to re-use the boxes from your orders to send out your items, you can always ask for more boxes from your local retail merchandisers re-stocking shelves (if you need more boxes instead of buying new boxes). If you have a lot of outgoing shipments, it would be wise to invest in a thermal printer specific for shipping labels so you don’t waste so much money on ink cartridges. And last but not least, always try to use the courier pickup services especially if it is free to save your trip time and gas to the post office especially if you have a lot of packages or if it’s heavy.
CLOSING IN ON CLEANING UP
Hope this helps as it does for me and if you are international outside of the US–I hope you find similar programs and methods you can use to help organize your lifestyle, give back to the community, and help keep the planet clean. If I find more great helpful programs, I will be sure to update this post and let you know about it. Thanks for reading.
