Remember Thrift Stores and Recycling for New Year Housecleaning

By Sydney Quillian  - ODC Network

As the holiday season comes to a close, we may begin to reflect on the past year and consider what the new year might bring. 

We often find ourselves cleaning and organizing our homes after the holiday season, and it can feel overwhelming at times to figure out what to do with items that we don’t use anymore. Luckily, Holland has a number of resources we can utilize to reuse and recycle such items.

The first resource we might turn to when reorganizing in the new year is secondhand stores. Whether we replace items or find that we no longer need certain belongings, thrift stores are great places to donate items still in good condition for our community to benefit from. 

The Community Action House Resale Store is one of a dozen or so thrift stores in the Holland area that are glad to help you repurpose items while serving their individual missions. Search online for Holland-area thrift stores to see what items they accept and when they’re open.

As an example, the Resale Store accepts any donations included in their donation guidelines at www.communityactionhouse.org. Things like winter coats, boots, hats, and gloves are especially needed in our community right now, which is helpful to know as we organize our homes in the new year. 

The staff at the Community Action House Resale Store are excited to accept donations anytime between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. If you’re looking to drop off donations during slower times, consider coming between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when there tends to be a lull in donations. 

Another great resource in our area is online buying and selling groups. Listing items on buying and selling pages is a great option for individuals who might not have access to transportation to drop off items at a thrift store; buyers and sellers can coordinate the transaction at a nearby location. 

Items can also be listed for free on these pages, making them available to individuals who might not otherwise be able to access them. 

Although it’s usually best to try to find someone in the community who could benefit from items we no longer use, certain items just might not be reusable. It can be hard to know what to do. We don’t want to send things like batteries, broken electronics or appliances to the landfill, but it can also be challenging to know where to recycle them. 

However, the City of Holland has a great resource to search for locations where hard-to-recycle items can be recycled. Visit recycleholland.com and use the search tool to find out where you can bring your hard-to-recycle items. 

With a new year comes a new opportunity to organize our homes. Here in Holland we are fortunate to have a number of secondhand stores and recycling facilities to ensure that items we no longer need can be used to the fullest potential by others, ultimately leading to a more interconnected and sustainable community. 

Sydney Quillian was a watershed intern with the ODC Network who recently graduated from Grand Valley State University with majors in Environmental Studies and Communication Studies