Why waste it? Many of us are using this time at home, while social distancing, to de-clutter and clean up. Here is a list of options to help declutter and spring clean your home, shed and garden.
Please be mindful of the items you are disposing of and avoid wasting these resources in landfill by reusing, repairing, repurposing, recycling or composting!
Donate or sell good quality, reusable items
PLEASE NOTE: Due to corona-virus precautions, please hold onto any donations of clothing, furniture and bric-a-brac as all charity stores are temporarily closed and are unable to take on any donations at this time. Items that are placed in charity bins and dumped out the front of charity stores will go to landfill and end up costing the organisations a lot of money. ‘Nationally, in a typical year, charities spend about $18 million on disposing items that are unusable or illegally dumped. This money could be better spent helping those in need!’1
Alternatively you may wish to giveaway or sell items through the following options as items could be left for collection on your doorstep:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Buy, swap, sell and giveaway’ groups on Facebook:
- FreeCycle
- Gumtree
- Ziilch
- Mobo Group’s Salvage and Save can collect good quality items.
- Lions, Rotary Clubs and Salvos can collect good quality items.
- Drop off items to your local charity shop; eg. Vinnies or RSPCA
Old towels, sheets and blankets can be donated to animal shelters such as RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League. * However these items will also need to be held onto for now as animal shelters are temporarily not accepting these items.
Consider repurposing old textiles and turning them into homemade face masks. Thicker fabrics are the best to use. Click here for more details on how to make your own.
Repair and restore
As we find ourselves with more time at home we may be more inclined to repair and restore items. There are some great ‘how to’ videos online with instructions on how to DIY fix-it job. Alternatively, you could take items to one of the ‘Repair Café’ days held in Adelaide, Aldgate, Campbelltown, Payneham, and Unley (more listed here) or a local Men’s shed may also be able to help.
Recycle
Please place any paper, cardboard boxes, rigid plastic containers, metal (including empty dry paint tins) and glass containers into your yellow lid recycle bin.
Click here for a full list of what can be recycled in your yellow bin.
*please ensure that all containers are empty and clean before placing them in the recycle bin.
Bedroom
Good quality clothing can be donated. Please see alternative options to buy, swap and giveaway items listed above. There are a number of places that will accept old, worn out clothing for recycling. Look under ‘C’ for clothing on our Tricky Waste Items page.
Bedding can be cleaned and aired to dry at home. Good quality sheets and blankets may be donated to a charity store. More worn-out items can be donated to an animal shelter.
Quilts and pillows can be cleaned and re-filled through Supreme Quilts.
Hair dryers, straighteners and bed lamps that no longer work, can be dropped off for recycling. Check our Electronic Recycling page for location details.
Light globes can be dropped off to any Mitre10 or Banner Hardware, Ikea and DeLights stores.
Shed & Garage
Please check out our Tricky Waste Items information page with options listed for batteries, building materials, electronic waste, paint, scrap metal, tyres and more.
Household chemicals and paint can be dropped off at any of the following locations:
- Northern suburbs: NAWMA Gate 3, Bellchambers Road, Edinburgh North Open Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm and weekends 9:00am-3:00pm. Closed New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day.
- Adelaide Hills and Southern suburbs: Heathfield Resource Recovery Centre, 32 Scott Creek Road, Healthfield. Open Monday-Friday 7:30am-4pm and weekends 9am-4pm. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day. Good Friday and extreme or catastrophic fire danger days.
- Eastern suburbs: Campbelltown Works Depot. 6 Newton Road, Campbelltown open Monday-Friday 8:00am-3:00pm. Closed weekends.
- Western Suburbs: Adelaide Waste & Recycling Centre: 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton. Open Monday-Friday 7am-4pm, Saturday 8am-3pm, Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Good Friday.
This service is only available to householders and farmers. The depot will not accept wastes from businesses.
Click here for information on disposing of hazardous materials.
Click here for a list of waste and recycling centres and transfer stations which accept various household and business waste items.
Home Office
Stay-at-home orders have forced many people who normally work from offices to work from home. So, getting these rooms in order is crucial. If you are cleaning up old files and paperwork, make sure you recycle paper in the yellow recycle bin. Confidential documents can be shredded and placed in the green organics bin.
Unwanted books can be donated to second-hand book stores some options are:
- Oxfam second hand bookshop
- Glenside Lions Club Bookmart
- Rotary Book Exchange
- Rotary Club of Mitcham Bookshop
- Magill Book Exchange
Street Libraries have also become popular. Click here to find your nearest location.
Officeworks offers recycling options the following:
- printer and ink cartridges
- mobile phones
- batteries
- Pens and markers
- e-waste
Click here for more details
Bathroom
Empty hair care, body wash and deodorant, shaving cream bottles and aerosol cans be placed in your recycling bin. Plastic lids should be collected separately in a clear plastic (PET) bottle before placing them in the recycle bin.
Plastic toothpaste tubes, floss containers and old toothbrushes can be recycled at various locations through Terracycles’ Oral Care program . Click here for drop-off locations. *Due the Corona virus outbreak, some locations may be temporarily unavailable. If you are unable to hold onto these items the only other option is in the waste to landfill bin.
Cosmetic containers that are made from rigid plastic or glass and are empty and clean can be recycled in your yellow recycle bin.
Medications that have expired should be taken to your local chemist for correct disposal.
Laundry
Empty cleaning product bottles and aerosol cans can be placed in the yellow lid recycling bin. Plastic lids should be collected separately in a clear plastic (PET) bottle before placing them in the recycle bin.
Broken plastic laundry baskets and buckets can be cut up into smaller pieces and placed into the yellow lid recycling bin.
Fridge, Freezer & Pantry
Set yourself a challenge not to buy any food for a week…or even longer and eat up the food you already have in your fridge, freezer and pantry. This will save waste and money as well as allow you to stay safe at home!
To help with this challenge, utilise the recipes on the FoodWise website where you can search for ingredients you already have, and find recipes for them: http://www.foodwise.com.au/recipe-room/our-recipe-finder/
Check the best before and use-by dates, and know the difference between them. You can still eat foods for a while after the best before date as they should be safe but they may have lost some quality and taste. Foods should not be eaten after the use by date for health or safety reasons.
Compost
If there is food that has past it’s use by date and expired, then compost it in your compost bin, worm farm or green bin.
Click here for a full list of what can be placed in your green bin
Pruning and weeding the garden
Weeds , flowers, garden prunings and unwanted plants can also be placed in the green bin.
Larger logs and amounts of garden waste can be taken to your local waste and recycling transfer station.
The following locations accept excess garden materials (fees may apply, please contact and check that locations are open):
- Adelaide City Council’s Green Waste and Mulch Depot
- Adelaide Hills – Gumeracha, Woodside and Heathfield
- Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
- Beverley Recycling and Waste Centre
- Lynton Green Organics Drop-off Facility
- Metro Waste
- NAWMA Edinburgh North Resource Recovery Centre
- Newton Transfer Station (9 Virginia Rd, Newton. ph: 1300 362 362)
- NAWMA Pooraka Resource Recovery Centre
- Wingfield Waste and Recycling Centre
Book a hard waste collection
Click here to book a free hard waste collection with East Waste (available to residents in East Waste Council areas. If you are not an East Waste resident, check with your local Council for hard waste collection service options.)
Make landfill the last option
For items that cannot be salvaged, sold, repaired, recycled or composted, then landfill may be the only option.
Click here for a list of items that can be placed in the general waste to landfill bin (red or blue lid)
References:
1. Charities beg people to stop leaving donations outside closed stores amid coronavirus shutdowns, ABC NEWS, Mikaela Ortolan
