Before bringing more into your home, take stock of what you have. If you have things you don't want or need, do your best to give them another life before dumping them.  

For many of us, the first donation stop may be a Binny Bin or a thrift store like Goodwill, but understand that what they cannot sell or don't have a market for will simply go straight into the trash, which is what you're trying to avoid. Be sure to provide them with sellable items only. Ask yourself if you would buy it. 

ASK QUESTIONS

Before donating things, directly ask a few key questions. Starting with "What happens to items that are not sellable?" If it goes into the trash or is sent abroad, can you find a more sustainable solution? 

GIVE IT AWAY

• • Donate to Hastings' TILI Garage

  • Try networks like Freecycle or Buy Nothing Rivertowns on Facebook -- great community resources where you can give and receive almost anything

  • Give to friends!

SELL IT

• • Hold a yard sale or participate in Hastings' Village-wide tag sale

  • Sell it on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Mercari, eBay and others

  • Sell clothes and other items to local consignment stores like Affordables in Dobbs Ferry and Once Upon a Child in Scarsdale, or to online thrift stores like ThredUp or The Real Real

DONATE IT
Donating directly to an organization that you know will use the items diverts them from the trash or from being shipped overseas. However: don't assume an organization will handle the items they cannot use in a responsible way, so do a little research.

Clothes: 

• All items: Green Tree Textiles Recycling Bin @Zinsser Commuter Parking Lot (aka train station lot). Green Tree donates usable deposits to charity and recycles the rest. 

• Women and Children's Clothes: The Sharing Shelf, (914) Cares or Family-to-Family to get clothes directly to those in need.

• Women's Clothes: Zion Thrift Shop in Dobbs

• Men's Clothes: Contact Midnight Run at (914) 693-7817

• Be sure to recycle unwearable textiles. You can drop these in the Green Tree Textile bin now at the Zinsser commuter lot near the bridge, and also at the TASH farmers market.

• Green Drop in White Plains

Toys:

• Unopened toys can go to Goodwill or similar. Opened but intact and working toys can go to a consignment store

• The TILI Garage takes working toys, but no stuffed toys

• Helpsy takes stuffed toys along with other household textiles; there's a bin at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Dobbs

• Green Drop in White Plains takes stuffed and other toys

Furniture:

• Furniture Share House

• Green Drop in White Plains takes small furniture

• The TILI Garage takes some small furniture and yard items

Books:

• Donate to Hastings annual PTSA Used Book Fair

• Drop with Hastings Public Library

• Donate to thrift stores

• Add to Little Free Libraries 

RECYCLE IT

• • For household/curbside recycling information, visit the HOH Village website. Questions? Call the county Recycling HelpLine at 914-813-5425.

  • Textiles: Green Tree Textiles bins can be found at Zinsser commuter lot in Hastings (at back near bridge) and TASH Farmers' Market in Tarrytown. The bins are colored green!

  • E-waste: Schedule a pickup with our DPW, or bring your e-waste to the Westchester Household Material Recovery Facility (H-MRF). Learn about E-Waste and how to dispose of it here. Westchester is proud to recycle e-waste responsibly.

  • The HMRF also takes various household hazardous wastes, such as pool and cleaning chemicals, paints, and propane tanks. See full list. 

  • Plastic bags/stretch/film plastic can be brought to Foodtown bins outside by the bottle return machines for recycling. Here is a good site about this kind of plastic and recycling: https://recyclecoach.com/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-plastic-bag-recycling/

  • Miscellaneous: 

    • Visit MOM's Organic Market's recycling center to recycle these: cell phones, batteries, eye glasses, shoes, oyster shells, corks, denim and Christmas lights. You can also recycle some of these at Whole Foods Market at Ridge Hill.

    • TerraCycle: Join a brigade! TerraCycle manages hard to recycle items like cigarette butts and regular batteries.