Often many parents don’t think about recycling their kids toys. To be honest we often just throw them away or perhaps we try to sell them at a garage sell. When parents run out of room the toys usually go in the trash. Unfortunately all of these plastic toys thrown in the garbage can be recycled. The problem is no one realizes how.
One thing that you can do to get rid of your children’s old toys without dumping them in the garbage is to donate them. Try to find a children’s hospital in your area, or a children’s wing of a hospital and see if they will take the donated toys. Most children’s hospitals will take the toys, and often they need them. Just make sure that before you donate the toys you clean and disinfect them. If there is no hospital that can use the type of toys that you have try a thrift store. There are plenty of thrift stores that will take the toys off of your hands and re-sell them. Now with the economy being the ways it is this can prove to be somewhat difficult for some thrift stores.
I have even found that your local pediatricians office may be willing to take one or two toys off of your hands. Since most areas have plenty of pediatricians officered to choose from you can call several of them and ask them if they would like to take some of the donated toys. You could also try to find a organization that looks for donated toys to give to sick or needy children. There are plenty of things that you can do with old toys other than just throwing them away. Most toys are made to last for years and years. Since kids grow so fast they usually move on to the next set of toys very quickly. If you do this as your child grows out of a toy than you will have less storage problems. There is nothing worse than saving every old toy until your child turns 18. You will quickly find out how these toys can pile up. Recycling them as your child grows will save you a lot of work in the long run. You will also find that it is very good for the environment.
The same can be done for your kids clothes that are still in good shape. Instead of just throwing them in the garbage, see if you can actually put them to good use. You can also call around to see who takes donated kids clothes. There are plenty of children who are in need . You should also avoid putting your clothes in those large bins that you sometimes see at the supermarket. It may say donated clothes on the front, but often times these clothes are sold in thrift stores and other types of stores. It is often best to call around and see where you can drop the clothes off so that they really get into the hands of kids who need them.
When it comes to books and backpacks these items can also be recycled. Your local library may take book donations as long as they are in good shape. You may also be able to donate the books to your local school. Schools will often take whatever book donations they can get. So instead of just tossing them find out a way to put them to good use. Backpacks can be donated to organizations that can use them such as the American Birding Association. They are constantly on the look out for old backpacks that are in god condition.
