The ‘Getting Rid of’ Guide – an eco-friendly version

Recycling, thankfully, isn’t a new phenomenon, but sometimes we don’t know where to recycle items that aren’t accepted in our city blue bin. Both the Province of Manitoba’s Waste Wise site, and the City of Winnipeg’s Water and Waste ‘What Goes Where?’ page provide a lot of help in answering these questions, and Winnipeg’s 4R depots accept a wide range of materials. But what about those odd and unique items that aren’t on the list? Green Action Centre has tried to take the guesswork out of how to get rid of your other unwanted items in the most responsible way.

Please note that this a working list, and we may not have all the items you have questions about, but please let us know if you have more to add, or if you have helpful information to share please email compost@greenactioncentre.ca

Alphabetical List of Items

Audio and Stereo Equipment

Recycle your old stereos and audio equipment at Saving Audio Recycling!

Saving Audio Recycling is a Winnipeg-based, entirely volunteer environmental grassroots organization which is committed to limiting the amount of un-wanted stereo & audio related equipment ending up in our landfills and provides an alternative for individuals who prefer that their stereo items be re-used in whole or in part rather than being destroyed at local electronics recycling depots.

Saving Audio Recycling is maintained by retired and semi-retired electronics technicians who possess the experience, expertise and specialized equipment necessary to repair & restore audio electronics.

How it works

Items received are assessed for usability or repair then equitably distributed to locally created and operated Winnipeg Not For Profit organizations who use the proceeds to help them maintain their Community function. Saving Audio Recycling performs this function free as a Community service.

Accepted Items

We can accept the following types of items for processing:

Amplifiers, loudspeakers, turntables (record players), AM/FM/SW receivers, tuners, reel-to-reel tape decks, mixers, processors, test equipment, musical instrument amplifiers, audio component parts and even home made audio projects.

Pick-up and drop-offs are free of charge and arrangements can be made by contacting us through our website, www.savingaudiorecycling.ca

If you are uncertain about your item(s), please make contact and a volunteer will be glad to assist you.

Bubble wrap, and other mail packaging materials

Even though they’re fun to pop, they can be given a new life for another package to be mailed. Many local UPS stores accept clean bubble wrap. Another option is to drop it off at your local grocery store that has a plastic bag recycling bin near their front entrance.

Note, because of changes during the COVID-19 pandemic your local store may have changed their program, please contact the retailer to confirm if they are currently accepting plastic bags before dropping them off.

Carpet Cleaner machine (and other electronics)

Working or not, Mother Earth Recycling accepts a wide range of electronics to be fixed and resold at their store (including carpet cleaners or even weed whackers!), or disposed of responsibly. Learn more about this great, local organization here.

Clothing - used, damaged or stained

If your closet is bursting at it’s seams (pun intended) or you have badly stained, ripped, or really outdated clothing, there are several options to dispose of these without dumping them in the trash (just don’t). Diabetes Canada has ‘Used Clothing Donation’ bins out in the community where you can drop them off at and they will recycle and reuse items responsibly. You can locate your local drop box here. Don’t want to go anywhere to drop it off? Diabetes Canada also offers household pickups regularly for homeowners. Email or call them here to book.

Want incentive? H&M stores in Winnipeg will accept your used clothing, no matter the condition, in store and offer you a thank you voucher for your next purchase.

For more information about how to reduce, reuse and recycle clothing, visit our blog here.

For a full list of places to drop off your unwanted clothes, please visit our blog here.

Cork

Are you a big wine lover, and find yourself with a lot of leftover corks lying around?

Manitoba Liquor Marts and various restaurants are now accepting corks back through the ReCork program. ReCork is a natural wine cork recycling program across North America. Simply drop them off in your local liquor store bin, or at participating restaurants, and they will grind them up and repurpose them. Synthetic corks are not accepted in these bins.

Check out the drop-off location map here. Before dropping off your donation contact your local Liquor Mart to confirm their participation.

For more information on getting involved, please visit their website.

Eyeglasses

If your prescription changed and you no longer need your old pair, don’t trash them – they can be useful for someone else!

Canadian Lions Eyeglass Recycling has collection sites around the city to provide used eyeglasses for children and adults in developing countries. To find a collection site near you, check out their list online here (search Winnipeg in their ‘collection locations’ form)

Furniture

Older or damaged furniture doesn’t have to end up in a landfill. If it is still in good condition, but you have no use for it anymore, there are many thrift stores that will accept this. If you want to feel like you made a difference in your community, there are several organizations you can donate to. Oyate Tipi Cumini Yape is a local non-profit organization in Winnipeg which accepts donations of gently used household goods and furniture. These items are then ‘distributed to women and children who are trying to better themselves by escaping poverty and/or abusive situations.’ Free furniture pick-up is also available through them if you’re not able to deliver it yourself.

Promax Wood Restoration & Renovation – They restore damaged woodwork on furniture, cabinets or floors
Furniture Medic – A wide range of services, including antique furniture restoration, and disaster restoration
FibreNew – They specialize in repair, restoration and renewal of leather, plastics, upholstery, vinyl and fabrics

These are just a few options for Winnipeg, but they are a good start to your furniture renewal conversation.

Ink Cartridges

Consider refilling your ink cartridges once they’re empty. Purchase a kit to do it yourself, or visit places such as Staples or Printer Refillers. Want more information about sustainable ink cartridge practices? Visit everycartridge.com.

Lawnmowers

Lawnmowers are hard working machines, and often get beat up pretty bad by landscaping in our backyards. If your machine is at the end of it’s life, or you’ve switched to a newer, model and don’t know what to do with the old one, Winnipeg Lawn Mower Recycling will take it off your hands. They will pick up your unwanted lawnmower anywhere in the city for free, and recycle the parts. They also offer tune-ups and repairs for your current model. Learn more about them here.

Lego and Duplo

Donate your undamaged Lego and Duplo blocks/bricks to LEGO’S Replay Program, where it will be redistributed to multiple donation partners for children to play and create with!

All you have to do is disassemble your lego and box it up, print up a shipping label from Lego’s website, and bring the box with the shipping label attached to your nearest Fed Ex shipping location.

Makeup and body care product containers

Old makeup? Used-up shampoo bottle? Hand cream lotion container? Finished deodorant stick? While we encourage purchasing these products with low packaging to start with, there are now a couple of options to actually recycle those old containers!

Lush will take back their own-brand containers and recycle them in a closed-loop. They have an incentive program related to bringing in a certain number of containers for recycling – check with your local store for more information. Click here for their FAQs about the program.

L’Occitane (Polo Park Mall) has partnered with TerraCycle to accept a wide variety of body-care and makeup product containers for recycling. Please empty them and rinse them to the best of your ability.

For the L’Occitane TerraCycle program click here

Hudson’s Bay also has a Re/Purpose Beauty program where beauty items can be recycled in store.

For the Hudson’s Bay Re/Purpose Beauty program click here

Sephora has their Beauty (Re)Purposed program where they have partnered with a nonprofit collective Pact to recycle beauty products in store.

For the Sephora & Pact Beauty (Re)Purposed program click here

Remember, some body-care products may be recyclable in your blue bin program. For example, a white shampoo bottle with a pump could be recycled in Winnipeg if you remove the pump and rinse it thoroughly. But black plastics, and flexible plastics like moisturizer tubes, would both be unacceptable in Winnipeg’s recycling program.

These locations occasionally or regularly offer discounts for bringing in materials to be recycled. Contact your local shops before dropping off donations if you are unsure.

Mattresses

Local organization Mother Earth Recycling accepts ‘clean’ and dry mattresses. They know that all mattresses discolor and get dirty over time, so don’t get discouraged. Did you buy your new mattress through IKEA or Sleep Country Canada? They will recycle your mattress through them for you! There is a $15 fee per mattress, but that is less than taking it to the landfill and paying their fee. To learn more about this great organization, visit their site here.

Oil/Grease

Car Oil and grease – MAARC (Manitoba Association for Resource Recovery Corp.) has several depots in Manitoba to drop off used automotive oil, oil filters and oil containers. Find your depot here .You can also ask your car dealer or automotive shop before you go for an oil change, on how they plan to recycle the oil after. Get informed and feel empowered

Food oil/grease – Rothsay in Winnipeg helps restaurants, supermarkets, butchers and other food service operators safely and sustainably dispose of used cooking oil, meat byproducts and offers grease trap maintenance. Learn more about them here.

We are currently still looking for where homeowners can take used cooking oil, so if you have the answer, please let us know.

Photo frames

Old and outdated frames don’t have to be tossed. Arts Junktion in downtown Winnipeg will accept your old frames to be re-purposed into art. Visit this amazing community-based, charitable organization, after learning more here.

***Arts Junktion is temporarily not accepting donations due to complications from a fire in the building****

Pianos

These beautiful instruments shouldn’t end up in a landfill, so please don’t make that an option.

If your piano is badly in need of repair or a tuning, hire a local piano tuner and technician to get the job done – like Joe Cote Piano Tuning & Repairs. They understand how to best get your piano back in working, beautiful sounding order.

If it is really beyond repair, try re-purposing it as a unique furniture piece. The cast iron frame can be removed (but it’s very heavy, be careful!) and sold at a scrap metal depot. If you want unique re purposing ideas, try browsing through Pinterest, and you may find an old piano can be made into a neat desk, a cool bar, or even a hall table!

Plastics

Today, there is too much plastic in our daily lives that we don’t know what to do with after it’s used. Our first step should be to try to make choices to avoid plastic packaging wherever possible. Choose vegetables that aren’t wrapped or bagged, or buy in bulk, for example,

However, sometimes it’s unavoidable, and until we reduce plastic drastically, you can recycle certain plastic materials through your municipal recycling program. Other plastics can be dropped off at a 4R depot, check your items on their website to see if it is accepted.

Stickers

If you don’t have a young child, grandchild or niece or nephew at home that loves stickers, and if you have more than you need in general, drop them off at Arts Junktion. They will be happy to share your sticker collection with the community.

***Arts Junktion is temporarily not accepting donations due to complications from a fire in the building****

Waterbottles (and other hard plastics)

If you are in the commercial, industrial, graphics, or municipal sector, Cascades Recovery Inc. will accept your bulk hard plastics, and other materials to help reduce your impact on the planet, and reduce your overall waste. Contact them or learn more here, click here to locate your local drop off.

Window coverings - blinds and drapes

Are you thinking of getting new window coverings, but don’t know what to do with the old ones? Donate them to Centre Flavie Laurent, who’s mission is to help the city’s less fortunate by providing them with furniture, clothing and household items at no cost. Do good and feel good. Learn more about them on their website here, for more information contact them here.