The furniture placement got delayed a bit. I’m hoping it will be done today. I’ve gotten requests to post pictures, which I will be happy to do when it’s done. In the meantime, The Girl and I went through a bucket that was in her room.

She has got this process down.

Keep. Donate. Recycle. Boom!

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, at what was in this bucket. I don’t know how stuff from the car got in here, but alas, it was there. My CDs. Stephen’s tools and the bottom end of a razor (no blade, thank goodness). Napkins? **shrug**

The Girl kept a stack of books and donated a few. A lot of paper went to the recycle bin. She kept a couple of blankets, her Nintendo charger and some artwork from the school year, which will be addressed another time.

The donated items will be picked up by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this Saturday. They come to my house regularly.

And this poor little lovey got its nose eaten off by Eddie. It’s not in a condition that can be donated or kept.

So, thanks to Hannah who commented on a post I put on The Simple Year Facebook Page, I learned about textile recycling and this sad little guy will be headed there.

I found out that American Textile Recycling Services, Inc. has locations in my area and all over the United States. They apparently have over 3,000 drop off locations across the country. Want to find one near you? Go here.

I emailed them and they very quickly responded with a list of drop-off locations near my area. And by list I mean a spreadsheet with 35 locations on there. 8 of them were highlighted in yellow with the locations closest to me! They also attached a receipt. They couldn’t have made it any easier.

There is a donation bin less than a half mile from my house, so we’ve got a bag we are filling up with holey and stained clothes and half-eaten loveys. They take shoes, toys and household items as well. Sweet!

I took a stroll through their website and ran across this little nugget in their FAQs:

Where do all of the recycled clothing and shoes go?

“We love this question. First lets describe who we are. ATRS is a professional textile recycling company which encourages the public to recycle their unwanted clothing, shoes and toys. All re-usable items placed in our care get a new home. After collecting the textiles from our recyclers, we separate and sort items into useful categories, then send these to emerging nations who do not have access to or cannot afford new clothing and shoes. A portion of the proceeds from the recycled clothing and shoes then goes back to help a local charity. It is a win, win, win. A charity receives much needed funds, clothing and shoes go to place they are needed and we help families across the US clean out their closets.”

I can totally get behind this. And until a few days ago, I didn’t even know it existed!

While I’m at it, I know we’ll need to recycle old phone chargers and other electrical type cords. Anyone have a suggestion for where to take or send those?