The 3 Rs

The major gift giving holidays are over. Want to learn how to reduce, reuse and recycle items from your holidays? Three organizations, Rethink Recycling, Recycling Association of Minnesota, and Anoka County Integrated Waste Management (IWM), provide information to residents to reduce, reuse and recycle unwanted goods.  These sites have information on how to recycle household goods, including old holiday light strings.

Additional sites were featured in a recent New York Times article about bartering by Mireya Navarro. The article points out that a number of web sites have been created to provide an easy and efficient way for people to trade or exchange used items, with among those mentioned being www.swap.com (with 1.8 million swaps already), www.ThredUP.com (specifically for children's clothing and toys), and www.swapmamas.com (using a group model).

Do. Reuse.

Got a new sweater or tv this year? Reuse your unwanted items. Try one of these web sites, listed in alphabetical order and provided by Anoka County IWM, that offer a no-charge, web-based listing service for residents who want to get or give free reusable goods for the home, garage and garden.  Do your part to reduce the amount of reusable goods being thrown away.

Craig's List – www.craigslist.com - Provides a section to give or get free items in addition to local classifieds, forums for jobs, housing, for-sale items, personals, services, and local community events. Search or go to the For Sale - Free link.

eBay – www.ebay.com - eBay is the world's largest online marketplace offering a place to give or get free items, a place for buyers and sellers to come together and trade almost anything. Search or go to the Free Stuff category.

ecofreek – www.ecofreek.com - A search engine that searches the web for free or for swap/trade items that people no longer need. Their mission is to provide a means for people to find items they need while reducing landfill waste.

Freecycle Network™ - www.freecycle.org - Made up of 4,864 groups around the world building a gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer.

The following Web site provides a quick, convenient way to donate household goods as well as reducing solicitation and operations costs for non-profit organizations.   Good Donor – www.gooddonor.org - Arranges for pick up of items you wish to donate from a list of area charitable organizations. 

Discover More

For more recycling information, please visit the City of Fridley resident recycler page or contact the environmental planner at 763-572-3594.