Where to Recycle Stuff - 2021 Edition

Happy Earth Day!

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 their stuff out of the landfill.  --- Masks required - Rules can be changing due to COVID, so calling ahead is always a good idea.

Sell It

To sell your "stuff",  list it on Facebook Marketplace. or the Warrenville Garage Sales and Exchange Facebook group. 

Meeting someone to make a transaction? Be safe. The Warrenville Police Station lobby is a safe internet transaction zone.

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 and Furniture Annex in 2S507 Rt. 59 in Warrenville (next to Honeymilk Restaurant). Pickup can be scheduled for furniture. 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 bigger furniture store than the Discoveries Annex - located at 730 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188 - 630.784.2890 - Benefits Outreach Community Ministries
• Freecycle- Join the Warrenville Group - post what you want to give away - "one person's trash is another person's treasure" - Use the website to arrangements for them to pick it up.  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 up), and old chair cushions. 

Recycle It

Upcoming Recycling Events in Warrenville

• Warrenville Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling Event - May 8.2021 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 - go to the E-waste Solutions website for list of prices and larger items that are recycled for a fee.
• Bike Rodeo - May 15, 2021 from 9-noon in City Hall Parking Lot. Donate Bikes in repairable condition to be fixed for use by those in need.

Ongoing Recycling / Reuse

Remember that most items items are made of natural resources. Find a way to re-use these materials, even if the item is no good for it's intended purpose (e.g. keys, small metal pieces, lawn chairs, books). Other things, you just need to find the right person that could use it (pens, blank paper, crayons, games, puzzles, yarn, glue, craft supplies, books, file folders, tools, lawn furniture .....). Here are places to consider:

• Warrenville Public Library: Eye glasses (including sunglasses) for Lions club - in between doors at back entrace. Also paperback and jigsaw puzzle exchange downstairs..
• Warrenville Park District - Bins at the back entrance for ink jet cartridges, old cell phones, gym shoes, eye glasses, plastic  / aluminum bottles. 
  
• Warrenville City Hall - Batteries (alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion) - Collection bins at lower entrances. Keep the chemicals that leak out of batteries out of our water supply!
• St. Irene's - Paper Recycling - includes outdated text books
• Wheaton Public Works: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).
• SCARCE has BookRescue, Tools for Schools and Super Crayons projects - Tools for Schools is for 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 and more. See  Tools for Schools List. Also Book Rescue takes all books. Books for kids are distributed to teachers, for classroom use, and SCARCE finds homes for other books, or recycles those that are in bad shape. All Crayons (broken or not) are used by the Super Crayons project.
• SCARCE  Recycles 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, baby items
• Sharing Connections - Furniture and Household Items - they will pickup. They help people in crisis that need to setup a household. Also new cleaning supplies and personal care products.
• Medical Equipment - Project CURE in Woodridge - 10305 Argonne Drive Suite 200 - Monday – Thursday:  9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Friday: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Paint - Oil Based Paints and stains can be taken to the Naperville Hazardous Waste Facility. Learn more about Latex paint on the SCARCE website. . Watch the Recycling Extravaganzas. Some include paint in the list of accepted items.
• Bags - Resale shops including Discoveries in Warrenville re-uses shopping bags (paper or plasstic) that are in good shape. Tom's Market no longer takes plastic bags, but Kohls,  Target, and Jewel in West Chicago take them.
• Tennis Shoes - Take them to 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 are wearable, they can go 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 Wheaton Public Works - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more. New!! Textiles (including clothes that have holes or stains, towels, sheets,etc) will be accepted for at Wheaton on the second Saturday event. (no TV's or hazardous waste)., and  Naperville Electronics Recycling - M-F, 7-3
• Garden Tools - Also Tomato Cages, Gardening Books and Magazines, Hose Nozzles - Garden Works Project has a facility in West Chicago They help people with food insecurity create gardens.Learn more or make arrangements with the Garden Works Project. 

Find a Recycling Extravaganza!

These events, usually sponsored by a community or municipal group, provide a "drive-thru" recycling. 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. ThereTypical items include:

• Textiles
• 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 (Not in the Fire Station Anymore). They made the drop-off bigger so cars can move thru more quickly - open Sat and Sunday mornings.
• Medicine Disposal - Many police stations, including Warrenville Police Station, 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, and the information is always changing.

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