You know the spring cleaning drill.

Purge the closet, organize the pantry, scrub every nook and cranny, take donations to Salvation Army or Goodwill. Repeat.

But what about all of those unwanted and unused items that don’t fall into the clothing or home categories, say, un-opened beauty products or maybe all that yarn you have yet to knit into a scarf or the scrapbook supplies you purchased and has been sitting on a closet shelf ever since? If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably hung onto the stuff for way too long because a) you don’t want to be wasteful and just toss it in the trash, b) you know someone, somewhere could probably benefit from the items and c) you worry that if you take it somewhere like Goodwill, they’ll just toss it in the trash. But, after doing some recent spring cleaning, and realizing I had been hanging onto boxes of construction paper and beads and bags of makeup palettes and unopened bottles of lotions for far too long, I was determined to finally find places that could actually use what we no longer could.

While SA or Goodwill are fine, the unfortunate reality is that many items donated to them don’t make it anywhere besides a dumpster, and obviously, that’s not helping anyone {or the planet}. So, in order to have your donation actually be beneficial, and not create unnecesary waste, look for specific organzitaions that can use your items. Yes, it might require a bit of extra work, or you may have to spend a few dollars to mail a box of things somewhere, or you may have to schedule a pick-up, but the impact you’ll have is totally worth it IMO.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of exactly what we had to donate and where we are donating it to/have donated it to. We found these organizations by either Googling “where to donate X” and “where to donate X in LA” {to find options in your local area, simply replace LA with the name of the city you live in}. Some of these are local to us but also accept mail-ins, some just accept donations via mail, some take drop-offs and some offer pick-up services. We also coordinated with some via Instagram {reaching out via DM is always a great way to connect, especially with a smaller organizations, to see what they need and find out how best to get it to them, if they accept drop-offs or just mail-ins, ect.}. No matter what you have to donate, I guarentee there is an organization out there that can use it.

Sneakers //

HavASole provides shoes to homeless and at risk youth; you can donate gently used or new sneakers {accepts mail-in donations}

Make-up + Beauty Products //

Project Beauty Share provides personal hygiene and cosmetic products to non-profits servingwomen and families overcoming abuse, addiction, poverty + homelessness ; they have a list of products that accept, mostly unused, but there are some things they will take that are open/gently used {accepts mail-in donations}

Bras //

I Support the Girls provides bras and menstrual products for women experiencing homeless; they accept new and gently worn bras {they have locations all over the US, but also accept mail-ins}

Craft Supplies //

The Dreaming Zebra has an art recycling program that connects you with either a pick-up or drop-off opportunity that supports non-profit art programs in your local area; Inklude Studio is an art studio that provides programs for adults with autism and disabilities and they accept both drop-off and mail-in donations

Books + DVDs //

Re-Book It is a program provided by The Last Bookstore in LA; they help books, as well as DVDs and records, find a new home, whether it’s a library, a hospital, a school, etc.; they do offer pick-up service in the LA area, but you have to have a certain amount of boxes or items and you have to schedule the pick-up in advance

Suits + Workwear //

Close the Deal provides workwear to low-income employees seeking to present themselves in a more professional manner; they have several donation drop-off locations throughout SoCal

Blankets, Sheets + Towels //

We take ours to local no-kill pet shelters, who can always use extra blankets for pets to sleep on and towels for cleaning ; just Google “no-kill pet shelters x name of your town” to find one in your area

Miscellaneous //

For anything else, aka items that either can’t be donated, or just need to be tossed, you can recycle through TerraCycle, an organization that works to eliminate waste by helping people to recycle everything through a variety of programs. You can also earn points for your recycling, which you can then redeem in the form of a charitable donation.