Alphabetized by item
These resources may have Austin-based links however many businesses listed are national chains and may be available in your area. You can also search the internet for similar type businesses in your area. A downloadable PDF is included at the bottom of the page.
Appliances: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center or Goodwill.
Asbestos: most likely present in homes that were constructed before the 1990s. Improper handling of asbestos-containing materials puts workers and the general public at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancer, lung cancer and asbestosis. To learn more go to https://mesothelioma.net/asbestos-awareness-and-education/.
Asbestos abatement projects should be carried out by a professional for safety and legal reasons, and professionals will also have access to proper recycling and disposal options individuals do not. The recycling process destroys asbestos fibers and converts them into a nonhazardous substance. It is an expensive but growing industry. More information is at https://www.asbestos.com/exposure/handling-disposing-asbestos/.
Baby or Child Things: Give away to friends and family; use a Facebook Buy Nothing group or Facebook Marketplace, craigslist or Freecycle; find a local charity like Any Baby Can or you may want to try your hand at resell at Once Upon a Child or other child-specific resale shops.
A charity may be at capacity due to limited space and/or staff. Please check first. Any Baby Can is currently at capacity and recommends donating to Heart of Texas Pregnancy Resource Center and
The Gabriel Project Life Center. When donating baby items, it’s good to check with the charity first (they respond to email super quickly) to make sure they can/will accept your items and have capacity.
Bags (Plastic): Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, Target , Walmart, grocery stores, Home Depot, Lowe’s
Batteries (single-use): Austin Public Libraries, Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, Batteries Plus
Batteries (rechargeable): Austin Public Libraries, Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, Batteries Plus , Home Depot, Lowe’s
Books: your local neighborhood Little Free Library(ies) or Recycled Reads in Austin, Texas or check with your local school or public library.
Brita Filters: https://www.brita.com/recycling-filters/
Brush (limbs and landscaping): Your Green Curbside Compost Cart or lawn and leaf bags
Bubble Wrap: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, Target , Walmart . You don’t have to pop it first, though if it’s the larger bubbles I do recommend you do. Enjoy the stress release!
Bulk Trash: large trash or unwanted items (e.g. mattresses) can be picked up on-call now in Austin! Plan 2 weeks out at least. Go to https://www.austintexas.gov/ondemand.
Before bulk/trashing items consider donating usable items. Most bulk pickup is sent to the landfill, it’s not sorted for recycling. If items are too large to transport yourself, you can call Hope Family Thrift Store, Salvation Army, Goodwill, or a local veterans group.
Clothes and shoes: church clothing closets or thrift stores such as
Hope Family Thrift Store or The Ronald McDonald House. Search https://alittlemore.green/2019/04/04/croaked-clothes-torn-textiles-hobbled-housewares/ for specific places on where to donate specific types of clothes and shoes, such as prom or business wear.
Damaged and unwearable clothes, fabrics and shoes may go to the Textiles/Clothing station at the Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center which partners with Goodwill, or your local Goodwill. I like to label these bags as “Recycle Textiles.”
Dog Food Packaging: Several companies have partnered with TerraCycle for FREE recycling of their products. Some examples include A Pup Above and Royal Canin, both brands are available locally in Austin.
Chemicals: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Christmas Trees (real): The City of Austin will pick them up on your curbside pick-up day or you may drop them off, at select times. Check http://www.austintexas.gov/department/christmas-tree-recycling or https://www.facebook.com/austinrecycles/ starting mid-December.
Christmas Trees (fake): Check your local Buy Nothing, Marketplace, craigslist or Freecycle for items wanted, ask your local churches or community programs.
Compact Disks (CDs): Drop off this item for reuse at Recycled Reads or recycling at the The Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, by appointment only. Austin/Travis County residents can schedule a drop-off time.
Computers:
– Usable: Find a charity in need.
– Unusable: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center , Goodwill
Contact Lens: Recycle all the parts through a participating location with Bausch + Lomb and Terracycle’s ONE by ONE program. All brands are accepted! Free shipping for the location!
Crafts: Austin Creative Reuse
Drugs/Medication/Prescriptions/Supplements: human and animal items can be dropped off at many Walgreens’ Safe Medication Disposal kiosk by the Pharmacy desk, and select CVS locations. Check your local pharmacy for “medication disposal” for if they participate. You may also dispose of drugs at permanent kiosk sites per the days, times, and locations listed at http://www.austintexas.gov/drugs. Twice a year local law enforcement and some city waste departments will host Prescription Drug Take-Back Days.
If you want to responsibly dispose of drugs sooner and at your convenience you may buy a pre-paid mailer envelope for about $3 in the pharmacy section of stores such as CVS, Walgreens or Costco. Please do not flush anything down the toilet as water treatment plants are not designed to remove all pharmaceutical chemicals from our water.
If you have a lot of non-expired pet meds left, check with veterinarian offices and charity groups on animal medications. These donations can assist owners who struggle financially or provide a sample/trial.
Electronics/Anything with a cord, battery or microchip: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center, Best Buy or Goodwill.
– A great list that focuses in depth on the type of electronic and more diverse causes to support from allconnect is here.
Eyeglasses: Envision Eye Center, Lenscrafters, VisionWorks or Walmart, David Kind trade up program for a coupon off a new pair
Flags: Contact a local Boy Scout group, local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post, Elks Lodge, or American Legion post to properly dispose of old American Flags.
Foam/Styrofoam: includes clean meat trays, egg carton, and to-go containers Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center.
Packing Peanuts: most peanuts now are corn or plant based. Run water on a few and see/feel if they dissolve. If they dissolve you can melt them in the sink or yard. If they are plastic foam, no local shipping store will take them anymore nor will recycling centers so try to offer them in your local Buy Nothing group for reuse or bind them securely in the trash.
Foil: City of Austin is taking clean aluminum foil and cooking trays. Rinse off your taco or pie and drop it in – but process it correctly first! Aluminum foil sheets should be clean and rolled into a 2 inch ball.
Freezer packs/ice packs: From meal delivery; read https://alittlemore.green/2019/04/13/ice-ice-pack-baby/
Furniture (Usable) and Housewares:
– Hope Family Thrift Store supporting Austin Disaster Relief Network
– Habitat for Humanity ReStore
– Women’s shelters, veterans’ groups, Goodwill, Salvation Army
– Saint Louise House helping women and children overcome homelessness
– *New 02.26.22: Save Yourself a Trip: 8 Charities That Offer Furniture Donation Pickup for Free
– *New 04.13.25: If you live in Austin contact me and I have a Move-In Ministry I can put you in touch with. taylor@alittlemore.green
Home Improvement/Tools: Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Almost every city has a Habitat for Humanity ReStore you can shop at and donate to.
Housewares: *New 04.13.25: If you live in Austin contact me and I have a Move-In Ministry I can put you in touch with. taylor@alittlemore.green. Or check with your local area churches, refugee/asylee groups to find a hyper local option.
Household Hazardous Waste: Paint, all batteries, chemicals, cleaners, tube lights, etc.: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Ink Cartridges: Target recycling station, or Best Buy service desk
Light bulbs (CFL): Home Depot, Lowe’s, Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Light bulbs (Tubes): Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Linens (Towels, Washcloths, Sheets, Pillowcases, etc).:
– Usable: homeless shelters, women’s shelters, Austin Wildlife Rescue
– Unusable: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center Textile/Clothing station
Mascara Wands: old clean wands, don’t buy new per their request: Wands for Wildlife. You pay for the shipping.
*Update 05/28/19: Due to popularity, Wands for Wildlife is scaling back to only accept wands in October and February. Store them up!
Mail: Unsubscribe yourself at https://www.catalogchoice.org/
Read https://alittlemore.green/2019/03/29/unwanted-mail-or-junk-mail/ for more ideas.
Mattresses: Mattresses usually need to be in almost “pristine condition with no stains, tears or signs of excessive wear” to donate according to local charity, Hope Family Thrift Store, supporting the Austin Disaster Relief Network. This is the criteria most entities use when discussing accepting donations of used mattresses. Amerisleep created a guide on mattress donating, recycling and disposal and has several Texas locations. The City of Austin’s What Do I Do With? recommends using the Austin Reuse Directory to find a local group but again, the mattress will need to be in very good condition. Mattresses deemed unrecyclable or donatable can be put out on your next bulk collection day or you can contact a local landfill.
Office Supplies: Austin Creative Reuse or a charity that requests these types of items such as Casa Marianella, an Austin charity helping displaced immigrants.
Paint (good and bad): Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Usable paint is turned into FREE low VOC Austin ReBlend. Pick some up!
See http://www.austintexas.gov/department/austin-reblend for colors.
Packing Peanuts: most peanuts now are corn or plant based. Run water on a few and see/feel if they dissolve. If they dissolve you can melt them in the sink or yard. If they are plastic foam, no local shipping store will take them anymore nor will recycling centers so try to offer them in your local Buy Nothing group for reuse or bind them securely in the trash.
Paper (shredded/sensitive): Shredded paper in a paper bag with the top rolled down may go in the Blue Recycling Cart.
Austin Shred Day and City of Austin co-host a spring and fall secure drop-off (typically April and November): http://www.austinarma.com/shred-day
UFCU hosts several drops offs during the year. For updates go to the homepage, scroll down to the middle under WE EMPOWER OUR MEMBERS, and select SEE ALL EVENTS. Then you can go through each page until you find the next available Shred Day scheduled.
Pet Topics: Your vet, adoption agency or shelter, may be able to accept medications, supplies, and certain foods. Ask them before assuming or dropping off. Crates, carriers, cones, life-vests and other supplies can be posted on Buy Nothing, Marketplace, or your local groups, or you can check with your local adoption agency. I always recommend calling ahead since there can be space limitations, “overstock,” or they may need new versions of those things instead of used. Austin Pets Alive is one of our local favorites, they also have three thrift store locations in Austin.
Pizza Box Lids: the lids and sides of pizza boxes may go in recycling as long as there is no pizza grease on the box. The grease contaminates the paper load. The greasy parts should go in the Green Compost Cart.
Plumbing: Electronics at Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center. ARR will strip the valuable metals out and put the rest of the metals, plastics, etc. in the appropriate sections of the ARRDC.
School Supplies: Austin Creative Reuse. Keep your eyes out for Back-to-School drives last summer. Most cities and ISDs will host these drives to collect these items, including much needed backpacks.
Shoes: Goodwill, Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe, or Asics who will give you a reward coupon or any brand.
Sporting Equipment:
– Search on the internet if you can find a group that requests donations.
– Habitat for Humanity ReStore
– Post the item(s) in a neighborhood Marketplace, Freecycle or craigslist.
– If you want to try your hand at resell, Play It Again Sports
Styrofoam: includes clean meat trays, egg carton, and to-go containers Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center.
Peanuts may go to a local shipping store.
Tires (car or bike): Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Tools: Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Almost every city has a Habitat for Humanity ReStore you can shop at and donate to. You may also want to check with your local Keep America Beautiful branch (e.g. Keep Austin Beautiful) or community garden about landscaping or clean up tools.
Towels:
– In good condition: search for a human shelter or animal shelter that can use them.
– In poor condition: Austin Wildlife Rescue will use these as bedding for the animals.
Toys (all plastic, no batteries or electronics):
– Please donate if it’s still usable. Toybrary Austin or SAFE Austin are great Austin options.
– If broken: Hard Plastics at Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Toys (with batteries, computer chips or electronics):
– Please donate if it’s still usable. Toybrary Austin or SAFE Austin are great Austin options.
– If broken: Electronics at Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center (ARR).
ARR will take toys apart to recycle the battery/electronic materials and put the plastic with the Hard Plastics.
VHS: Electronics at Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center
Video Game Stuff:
– If broken: Electronics Station in the barn-like structure at Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center , Best Buy or Goodwill .
– You could try to sell it yourself or through GameStop
Wires and cords: Austin Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center or Goodwill
Additional Resources:
“Buy Nothing. Give Freely. Share Creatively.” Information on the Buy Nothing Project is at https://buynothingproject.org/ .
Got more items or questions?
City of Austin What Do I Do With? http://austintexas.gov/what-do-i-do
City of Austin and Austin EcoNetwork’s Austin Reuse Directory for where to donate/sell items:
https://austineconetwork.com/austin-reuse-directory/
Check out the directory at http://www.earth911.com/
Ask Taylor! taylor@alittlemore.green