Here at Microliving, we definitely recommend doing a periodic clutter sweep, but you might be throwing items away that could be going to a good cause and reused by others. Here’s how and where to donate some of the more unusual items you might have lying around your home.

1. Rechargeable Batteries – All batteries that are rechargeable are accepted at Call to Recycle, which only excludes alkaline and wet-cell batteries. Recycling is free, and there are over 30,000 drop-off centers at retailers nationwide (US) for your convenience. It is illegal in many states to throw away rechargeable batteries because of the levels of metals that can poison the environment, so look around for appropriate batteries in old cell phones, laptops, digital cameras, and cordless phones. All reclaimed metals and materials are re-used and never end up in a landfill.
2. Unused Medication – Every year thousands of pills are flushed into the sewer system, and scientists have yet to determine the long-term impacts of medicines in our drinking water. Unexpired anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, pain relievers, and HIV/AIDS medication are desperately needed by the Health Equity Project for shipment to those suffering from disease in Africa. Donation is free, minus shipping costs, though they ask that you make a small donation to cover shipment overseas. Unfortunately, few other charities can accept expired medication due to national and local restrictions, so the most environmentally-friendly approach to medicine disposal is mixing the individual tablets with used coffee grounds or clean cat litter and packing the mix into a disposable container such as a butter carton, and throwing the container away.
3. Clothing, Household Goods, and Furniture – The Salvation Army accepts most common items around your house, excluding consumer electronics such as mp3 players and DVD players, though they will gladly take washing machines and air conditioners, among other household appliances. For a complete list of what they accept, along with a useful valuation guide for tax deduction purposes, click here. The Salvation Army has a pickup service that covers most major metropolitan areas in the US, so you don’t even need a truck to donate your old items.
4. Consumer Electronics – Best Buy offers electronics donation areas in all of their retail centers. Two items are accepted per household for day free of charge, excluding CRTs, laptops, monitors, and TVs smaller than 32″, which involve a $10 fee that is offset by a $10 Best Buy gift card for each of the excluded items you donate. Hard drives, and appliances containing freon are not accepted. Large TVs and other big electronics can be picked up at your home by the Best Buy pickup service for recycling for $100.
5. Holiday Lights – If you have broken or unwanted holiday lights lying around from this just-passed Yuletide season, ship them to The Christmas Light Source, who will recycle them and use the proceeds to make a donation to the Toys for Tots charity next Christmas.

This is by no means a complete list of items you have lying around, but it’s a start. Remember to tackle all cleaning and de-cluttering projects a little at a time, and check back in a week or so for another list of recycling options.