Reduce Waste and Build Community
Maybe you want to reduce clutter?
Maybe you need to get ready for a move?
Maybe you are trying to save money?
Maybe you want to share something you have too much of?
Buy Nothing
If you have things to get rid of or if you are looking for things you need, consider using your local Buy Nothing Group. You can learn more at the Buy Nothing website. It is movement that originally started here in Washington State. It is a grassroots network of community members who encourage giving or recycling consumer goods instead of buying and selling items. It started in 2013 and it is now a global movement.
Search for your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook and include the name of your neighborhood or city. An example, Buy Nothing West Valley.
Thrift Stores in Yakima
Other alternatives are to consider donating items to one of the many thrift stores in Yakima or shopping at those establishments to find used goods at low prices. Look online for the hours of operation and address. Organizations which can benefit from your donation/shopping include:
Recycling Services in Yakima
Yakima Waste Systems Inc. offers bi-weekly pick-up collection of recycling at your home/office for a fee.
Accepted: milk jugs, plastic bottles where the neck is narrower than the base, phone books, shredded paper only if in a paper sack, mail, magazines, mixed paper, and catalogues, metal cans, aluminum cans, newspapers and inserts, paper bags, cereal boxes, cardboard, paper or frozen food boxes, # 1 and 2 plastics with the labels peeled off (includes clear clam shells for berries)
Not Accepted: paper milk-style cartons, shredded paper in plastic bags, glass, glassware, ceramics, styrofoam peanuts, batteries, aerosol cans, toxic product containers (shows a plastic bottle that had motor oil in it), plastic tubs, plastic lids, foil, plastic bags, light bulbs, chip bags, plastic cups, styrofoam containers, frozen food bags, food-contaminated paper plates and napkins, metal hangers, juice boxes and pill bottles (prescription and OTC), any plastic other than #1 and #2.
Wesley United Methodist Church – accepts cardboard, paper, shredded paper, tin cans and aluminum cans. Open Monday-Friday all day and Saturday morning. Closed Sundays.
Pacific Steel and Recycling accepts and pays for many kinds of metals at their facility, Download the list of Materials that can be recycled at Pacific Steel and Recycling and learn more about their recycling services on their website.
Yakima County encourages recycling on their Yakima Recycles web page. Download the Yakima County Recycling Guide.
The County runs the Terrace Heights and Cheyne Landfills which have recycling bins at the facility
Books to Read
If you want to learn more about de-cluttering, consult the catalog at the Yakima Valley Libraries for titles related to housekeeping, thriftiness, and frugal living. Some interesting titles to consider are:
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Kondo, Marie
• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning – Magnusson, Margareta
• Nobody Wants Your Sh*t – Condo, Messie – A humorous look at letting stuff go
