Where to Recycle Stuff - 2022

Happy Earth Day!

Aprril 22 is Earth Day.... a time for spring cleaning and a time to think about the 3R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE .  Keep reading to learn how to get rid of your unwanted "stuff" and keep it out of the landfill. Or use these ideas in reverse to get items you could use .... and help someone else keep it out of the landfill.

Sell It or Give it Away

There are many online sites to help you match what you want to get rid of with someone that might want it. Two common ways:

• Front Porch  pickup. Make arrangements to leave the item on your front porch, labeled with the name of hte person that is supposed to pick it up, and they leave the money under the mat, or other pre-arranged location.
• Public Meeting Place  If you don't want t0 give your address, the Warrenville Police Station lobby is a safe internet transaction zone.

If you are on Facebook

There are many facebook groups. The most common is Facebook Marketplace, but there are also local groups that you can join:

• Wheaton Mom's (open of School Disctrict 200 families)
• Buy Nothing Warrenville, IL
• Warrenville Garage Sales and Exchange Facebook group (on temporary pause)

Websites or Apps without Facebook

If you don't use Facebook, there are other websites:

• Craig's list.
• OfferUp: An app to buy and sell locally
• thredUP:  Online consignmeny thrift shop - Mail clothes to donate or sell
• Freecycle- Join the Warrenville Group - post what you want to give away, everything is free.  - "one person's trash is another person's treasure" -  For a bigger audience, there are other Wheaton and Naperville groups too. You might be able to get rid of things you thought were garbage. . For example,  I got rid of landscape stones and logs (and they loaded them), and old  lawn chair cushions

Donate It

Find a resale shop. Most resale shops take clothes, shoes, accessories, household goods, sports equipment, dishes, kitchen gadgets, toys, knick knacks, small working household appliances (NO big TV's or computer monitors, even if they work) Click links for hours and more detailed lists.

• Discoveries Resale Shop in Warrenville Benefits Warrenville Youth and Family Services.
• ReStore for working appliances, light fixtures, and other building supplies. Nearest one is by Fox Valley (4100 Fox Valley Ctr Dr Aurora, IL 60504). A division of Habitat for Humanity.
• Jubilee - A big furniture store located at 730 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188 - 630.784.2890 - Benefits Outreach Community Ministries

Recycle It

Upcoming Recycling Events in Warrenville

• Warrenville Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling Event - May 7, 2022 from 9 am to noon Bower School ( 4S241 River Road ).  Limit 3 bankers boxes of paper to be shredded. Items accepted for electronics recycling include computers, laptops, servers, switches, modems, routers,, printers, copiers, fax machines, circuit boards, cords, wires, toys, small appliances, stereo equipment, office equipment, telephone systems, cell phones, games, and banking/financial/medical equipment. TV's, monitors, and larger items are accepted for a fee paid in advance - learn more on city website.
• Bike Rodeo - May 14, 2022 from 9-11:30 in City Hall Parking Lot. Collecting Bikes to be donated and fixed for use by those in need. Get detailed schedule If you miss the date, and have a bike to donate, talk to the friendly folks at the Recycled Cycling Bike Shop

Ongoing Recycling / Reuse Collections

Remember that most items items are made of natural resources. It is better to find a way to re-use, even after the item is no good (e.g. keys, small metal pieces, lawn chairs, books). There are also things that the right person might be able to use (pens, blank paper, crayons, games, puzzles, yarn, glue, craft supplies, books, file folders, tools, lawn furniture .....). Here are places to get rid of of stuff that is too good to throw away.

• Warrenville Public Library: At the lower back entrace are exchanges for  paperback books,  igsaw puzzles and magazines.
• Warrenville Park District - Bins are at the back lower entrance for ink jet cartridges, old cell phones, gym shoes, eye glasses, plastic  / aluminum bottles. .
  
• Warrenville City Hall - Small collection boxes at lower entrances for batteries  (alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion) and small electronics (e.g. cell phone, mouse) Eye Glasses are also collected for the Lion's club.
• Wheaton Public Works: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).  Drive Thru event (like extravaganza).
• Batavia Recycling Center - Electronics, Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, Books, Paper, Scrap Metal, Cardboa​rd, Shredded paper​​. Also, We large appliances that do not contain Freon (e.g., washers, driers, dishwashers). This location is piloting c​ollection of household aerosols, propane tanks of 1lb or less capacity, and isobutane tanks of 1lb or less capacity (fee applies).  - 517 E. Fabyan Parkway, Batavia- Hours: M-F 8am-4p
• Naperville Recyling Center - Electronics (fee for screens) M-F 7-3, Scrap Metal on Wednesdays 8-4, 156 Fort Hill Drive
• SCARCE has many recycling projects - They collect any supplies that a teacher might use in a classroom, including any and all books, paper, pens, pencils & crayons, game pieces or groups of other small things for kids to count / manipulate, anything that could be used for craft projects, any office supplies, buttons, sewing machines, sewing supplies, musical instruments, and more. See  Tools for Schools List. Also SCARCE takes all books. Books for kids are distributed to teachers, for classroom use, and SCARCE finds homes for other books, re-sells SCARCE-ly used books, or recycles those that are in bad shape. All Crayons (broken or not) are used by the Super Crayons project. Call ahead if you are bringing more than 5 boxes.
• SCARCE  helps recycle /reuse odds and ends  - Keys, flags, records, small metal pieces, cell phones, lights & cords (all year) - Click to see list
• Food Panty in Immanual Church - non-perishables that you won't use (that are still good) - open Tuesday mornings
• People's Resource Center in Wheaton - food, clothes, computers (critial need for working computers), books
• Sharing Connections - Furniture and Household Items - they will pickup. They help people in crisis that need to setup a household. They also take new cleaning supplies and personal care products.
• Bags - Resale shops including Discoveries in Warrenville re-uses shopping bags (paper or plasstic) that are in good   bags, Jewel in West Chicago, Kohls and Target take plastic bags..
• Tennis Shoes - Take them to Dick Pond in Carol Stream (26W515 St Charles Rd), or the Nike store in the Aurora Premium Outlet Mall - Nike grinds them for playground surfaces so bring shoes worn our or with holes - limit might be 10 pairs (in one drop off).  If the shoes (any kind of shoes) are wearable, take them to a resale shop.
• Bubble Wrap & Peanuts - UPS and other packaging stores (call first)
• Hangers - return to cleaners (call first)
• Electronics and more - Wheaton: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon at the Public Works - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste)., and  Naperville Electronics Recycling - M-F, 7-3
• Garden Tools - Garden Works Project now has a facility in West Chicago is creating a Garden Tool lending library.Learn more or make arrangements with the Garden Works Project. 
• Car Seat Trade In - Twice a year, you can bring an old, expired or damaged car seat to Target and recycle it to redeem a coupon on your Target app or Target.com/circle for 20% off one car seat, one stroller or select baby gear. Current event ends April 30, 2022.
• Bicycles - Recycled Cycling Bike Shop

Find a Recycling Extravaganza!

These events, usually sponsored by a community or municipal group, provide a "drive-thru" recycling. You don't get out of your car, and volunteers unload. Often communities have annual events, and each event has its own list of items, and arranges for charties or commercial organizations to take the various items.  Find upcoming extravaganzas and read the flyer for the event or go to their webpage to get the details. Typical items include:

• Scrap Metal
• Eye Glasses (Lyons Club usually collects and distributes)
• Electronics (Look Carefully! Usually electronics are considered to be anything with a battery or cord, but each event has different requirements. Old monitors and TVs may not be collected, or may be collected for a fee).
• Old Bikes
• Garden Tools
• Medical Equipment
• Books
• Pet Supplies
• American Flags
• Many More - check your event listings

Hazardous Waste

Some things can't be recycled, and shouldn't go in the landfill.  These include old medicine, cleaning chemicals, oil based paints, and weed killers. We're lucky to have the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) disposal site in Naperville that is open every weekend. Learn more at these websites:

• Naperville Hazardous Waste Dropoff - Jefferson and Forthill  - open Sat and Sunday mornings.
• Medicine Disposal - Many police stations, including Warrenville Police Station (update 5/16/22 - temporarily suspended, so check police station website before you go), and the Naperville Hazardous Waste (HHW) provide at drop of for unneeded or expired medications. Dump all the pills into a ziplock bag - there is not enough room to store all the prescription containers. .Some Walgreens also have safe disposal boxes for prescription drugs. The closest ones are  612 RAYMOND DR, NAPERVILLE, IL 60563 or  227W171 GENEVA RD, WINFIELD, IL 60190,630-681-8482, 630-428-9171

Additional Resources

If you are looking for more information, check out these websites. It is illegal to put TV's into the landfill, it's difficult to find places to recycle them for free. The information  information is always changing. These sites have lots of information, including A-Z guides. You can also call with questions.

• DuPage County Electronics Recycling
• Kane County Recycles (many resources - but some are only for Kane County residents)
• SCARCE