Did you know that responsible furniture hauling services practice smart recycling and reuse?
Recycling is one of the most important ways you can be environmentally friendly, but when it comes to furniture people aren’t quite sure what the best method is. An article from Planet Save cited an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) report that furniture was the least recycled item in households, accounting for 9.8 tons per year.
The benefits of recycling are well known but the opportunities go beyond the household waste, like cans and bottles, that we commonly associate with recycling. Millions household items – like pieces of furniture- are sent to landfills every year. Take a look at these five ways you can recycle your old furniture and change that statistic.
1. Donate unwanted furniture to thrift shops or charities
Thrift shops are no longer just for fuzzy lampshades and old jigsaw puzzles – a number of well-known charities now have furniture stores which sell donated furniture with the proceeds benefitting the charity’s programs. In our own locale, for example, a volunteer-operated thrift shop in the heart of Silicon Valley — The Thrift Box in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood — benefits the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. And of course, Goodwill is a commonly known charity that directly operates stores that recycle, reuse and resell donated furniture and other household items.
Salvation Army is also in the business of having volunteers and employees fix up and recycle furniture, which is then sold in their thrift shops for to benefit the charity. By donating furniture to an organization like Goodwill or Salvation Army or your local thrift shop, it’s both great for the planet and great for people.
2. Use an environmentally friendly junk removal and hauling service
A great way to recycle furniture is by using an environmentally friendly junk removal company. West Coast Junk prides itself as a junk removal and waste hauling company that focuses on environmentally friendly solutions for waste disposal. By choosing a local junk removal company that takes social and environmental concerns seriously, you can be confident that your old furniture has been properly recycled and has a positive impact on the environment.
Our relationships with local thrift shops — from San Ramon to Oakland and San Jose to Pleasanton and points in between — help ensure that the reusable furniture we haul away from your house gets to a place where it can benefit others.
3. Recycle old furniture by selling or giving it away
There are a number of effective ways to give away your old furniture – a great way to recycle it, with low environmental impact. Yard Sale is the way to go because you don’t have to haul the furniture away yourself. Here’s the idea: You’ve set up your yard sale on a Saturday morning at your house in San Ramon and you’re ready to wheel and deal until it’s all gone. But there are always those few stubborn pieces of furniture that seem hard to sell. Make the decision for the win-win; give it away.
4. Upcycle old furniture
If you’ve got the inclination, the time and the DIY inspiration, upcycling furniture is the perfect way to recycle old furniture. Videos on YouTube are readily available for informative tutorials and how-to guides, which allow you to turn your unwanted furniture into beautiful, eccentric upcycled pieces.
5. Check with your local stage company or theatre
There are many theatre troops and stage companies that need to acquire aged looking stage props for new productions. This is a fun and creative way of recycling your furniture. Imagine the excitement sparked by the producers of a play who were looking for that just right couch or loveseat. Doesn’t it sound like a real way of re-purposing your furniture and getting a second use out of it? No doubt, better than ending up in the landfill.
As you can see old furniture doesn’t have to just end up in the dump or the fire pile – there are plenty of ways you can ensure it gets reused. And to top it all off, you can accomplish these kinds of good deeds by having West Coast Junk haul away the furniture for responsible reuse or recycling.
It’s as easy as calling West Coast Junk today at (510) 421-1730. You can also schedule an appointment online.