Spring Cleaning - What to do with all your stuff!

Spring cleaning is a great time to declutter your home or office space, but what do you do with all the things you no longer need? Use this step-by-step guide, and choose from these options right here in the city!

The main goal is to reduce the amount of stuff you’re throwing into the trash and give our excess stuff a new purpose!

Try to find ways to reuse the item in a different way. Use glass jars as new storage containers, use your old newspapers or magazines for a craft project, or even use old shirts to make a t-shirt blanket!
Donate if you can: The dresser you don’t want anymore could be just what someone else is looking for! Or the kids clothes you have stored away could go to a new parent in need! Check local neighborhood blogs or donate to a local shelter or thrift store. You can find donation locations on our Beyond the Blue Bin database.
If it’s recyclable, put it in your Blue Bin! If it is any of these 6 categories and you can’t reuse or donate it, place it in your Blue Bin for recycling: Paper, Flattened Cardboard, Plastic Bottles and Containers, Glass Bottles and Jars, Metal Food and Beverage Cans, Food and Beverage Cartons. Always keep the recyclables loose, clean and dry!
Don’t contaminate! Properly dispose of these items at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility

Aerosols (empty or full, including hair products and sunscreen)
Automotive fluids – antifreeze, gas, motor oil (and filters), brake fluids, etc.
Batteries (all types, including alkaline and lithium-ion)
Bottles of household cleaners
Fire extinguishers (full or empty)
Fluorescent lightbulb tubes (limit to 20 or less)
Gas cylinders (carbon dioxide and butane cylinders, empty or full) and Oxygen and propane tanks (20 pounds or smaller, empty or full)
Herbicides and pesticides and fertilizer
Mercury and Mercury containing devices (such as thermometers, thermostats, and mercuric salts)
Nail polish/nail polish remover
Paints (oil-based, craft and hobby paints)
Poisons
Pool chemicals and other acids and bases
Sealants, stains, varnishes, solvents and strippers
Vape pens and cartridges
Vegetable/cooking oil

If you aren’t sure about an item please call or email STL City Recycles and we can help you get the information you need: 314-772-4646 or recycle@stlouis-mo.gov

Resources and Examples

Teachers Trading Post | Upcycle Treasure Box

A non-profit that creates a market for educational materials and supplies for teachers! They accept donated materials, and allow teachers and educators to come and shop! Materials and resources are sold at $1.00 a pound.
Check out their website to learn more!

Remains – “Giving textiles a second chance”

A business that takes in unwanted textiles and clothing and either recycles or reuses them! They have in house drop off as well as a dumpster drop off service!
Check out their website to learn more!

Habitat for Humanity: ReStore

Dedicated to reusing and repurposing donated goods and diverting items from landfills in order to lessen our impact on the environment.
To see a full list of donatable items, click here.

Perennial STL

Perennial is a non-profit organization in St. Louis where you can take classes to learn creative ways to reuse materials. Try classes in woodworking, stained glass, mosaics, sewing, dyes, bookbinding and more. If you’re looking for materials, try out the retail shop, full of salvaged supplies.
Check out their website to find classes and more!

Nilo-Tech E-Cycling

Nilo-Tech provides electronics waste recycling services to private companies, small businesses, school districts, small governments and charity organizations at authorized collection sites and recycling drives across the Midwest.
Check out their website to learn more!

Spectrum Ecycle

Spectrum Ecycle offers convenient, secure electronics recycling, certified data destruction and technology disposal. Spectrum Ecycle services both business and residential customers!
Visit their website for more information!