Recycle Archives - SOS: Simple Organized Solutions LLC

Recycling Hard Cover Books

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2021-08-20T13:08:22-05:00August 25th, 2021|Categories: Recycle|Tags: curbside recycling, donation, downsize|

Recycling hard cover books? My book loving friends may be aghast at this idea, but sometimes it’s necessary. The main reason is probably when downsizing your belongings, especially to move to a smaller home. There are times when I’m helping a client to downsize, and they have a lot of books - paperback and hard cover books, and also magazines. Some of their books have seen better days and are not in good enough shape to donate, which is the best form of recycling. As I just mentioned, the best way to recycle is donation, as is typically the case [...]

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How to Recycle Fabrics

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2021-07-12T15:10:32-05:00July 14th, 2021|Categories: Recycle|Tags: clothes, donation, downsize, resale|

When I’m working with clients to downsize their belongings, the subject of how to recycle fabrics almost always comes up. Most clients want their unwanted things to go to a good home. There are always instances when we do have to trash items that are broken and can’t be recycled. Then the subject of what can be recycled comes up. Most are surprised when they learn that fabrics can be recycled, not in their curbside pickup bins, but in other places. According to the EPA’s 2017 Data tables on Advancing Sustainable Materials Management, in 2017, 16,890 tons of textiles were generated—only [...]

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Remember The 3 R’s as You Downsize

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:17-06:00December 4th, 2019|Categories: Downsizing, Recycle|Tags: downsizing, recycle, reduce, reuse|

The 3 R’s are - reuse, reduce and recycle. These are very important R’s to remember at all times. I just read something the other day on the internet somewhere, I can’t remember where, that suggested we add a 4th R – refuse. The context pertained to refusing to use disposable plastic water bottles. That’s a great idea. I think it could be added to the 3 R’s and considered as you downsize, and not just for disposable plastic water bottles. Refusing to add another unwanted or unneeded thing to our living environment makes sense. Throughout our lives we downsize [...]

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Recycling Locations Around St. Louis MO

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:21-06:00May 29th, 2019|Categories: Decluttering, Recycle|Tags: discard, donation, MO, recycle, St. Louis|

Whether you have curbside recycling or take your recyclables to a facility, some items are not allowed in the bins. Your service provider typically provides a list of items that they will accept. Some bins have stickers on them to show the acceptable items. There are items however, that need to be discarded but are not on the list of accepted items. Donation to a favorite charity is always an option for recycling for gently used items. You want to be a good steward of the earth and keep as much out of the landfill as possible, but may not [...]

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Should I Sell or Donate Unwanted Items?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:29-06:00October 4th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Recycle|Tags: donate, organizing process, purge, recycle|

During the purge part of the organizing process, I’m often asked if an unwanted item should be donated or sold. This is a great question! The short answer is that it’s an individual preference. In my experience, most people know what mechanism they want to use to discard unwanted items. There are some items that have been in families for generations, and the current owners think they may be of value, but they’re not sure. For those items, I recommend getting an appraisal to determine value. Then decide whether to contact other family members to see if they want the [...]

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Where to Donate Your Treasures

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:29-06:00June 7th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Recycle|Tags: charities, donate, purge, recycle, tips|

I’m often asked, ‘where do I donate _______?’ (fill in the blank). When I’m asked this question is typically during, or after a purge session. Whether it’s spring cleaning, or time to downsize, you may come across items that are not trash-worthy. These items still have mileage in them and you don’t want them to end up in a landfill. The obvious solution is to recycle them. Recycling has a variety of meanings; send to a recycling facility, repurpose/reuse, sell or donate. This post focuses on where to donate specialty items. There are many charities that accept donations. The [...]

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Go Green During Spring Cleaning

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:35-06:00April 26th, 2015|Categories: Planning, Recycle, Spring Cleaning|Tags: green, recycle, spring cleaning|

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Spring cleaning is a process that can take quite a while. It’s not typically done in a weekend. There are many rooms and spaces to consider, along with the yard and perhaps a vehicle or two. As we clean, we declutter and clear our homes of items we no longer need, want or love. Some of the items to discard are still in good shape while others are not. The items that still have life in them could be donated to a charity so that someone could reuse them. Non-working items such as, [...]

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Where do Your Unwanted ‘Things’ go to Die?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:40-06:00October 21st, 2013|Categories: Donation, Home Organization, Recycle|Tags: clutter, donation, recycle|

All of us have ‘things’. Stuff we accumulate over the years. We have things in our homes, in other people’s homes, in storage units at, or away from our homes. We have things that help us with activities of daily living, things of beauty to decorate us, or other things, sentimental things that trigger happy memories, etc. All of these things have lives, an amount of time to us when they are no longer useful or provide beauty. At the end of their lives, which is determined by us, our ‘things’ die. There could be many reasons for the death of [...]

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We Didn’t Have The ‘Green Thing’ Back in Our Day

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:40-06:00September 23rd, 2013|Categories: Recycle, Seniors|Tags: green, recycle, reused, seniors|

I recently received this email message from my 84, almost 85 year old father and thought I would share. The author makes a very good point about the ‘green thing’ and how it was done in past generations. Enjoy! Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.” The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our [...]

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Clothes Swap Party

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions|2020-11-17T13:41:46-06:00June 25th, 2012|Categories: Decluttering, Recycle, Rightsizing|Tags: declutter, purge, recycle|

Years ago a good friend of mine made a very good suggestion for a girl’s get-together; a clothes swap party! She had a lot of clothes that no longer fit or that she no longer loved. She was thinking that her friends may have the same dilemma. Since we are all different sizes, and have different tastes, we may want clothes that others are ready to part with. And how many times have you admired a blouse or pair of jeans that a girlfriend is wearing? Like minds typically become friends and hang out together. Shopping for new clothes can get [...]

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