question about how to get rid of certain things, ...

[Zoe Girl]

I called the landfill and they ARE open monday, that is great. However they do not take 'electronics', I checked and that includes my small swamp cooler. I also have a handheld carpet cleaner and an electric mower. I am not sure where to look next, maybe the recycling places that will take it for metal? And what if the items are more plastic than metal? I really want to clean this out and it is becoming a real chore.

I also have a grill that is not working but I think I can find a place to take that, it is mostly metal. Oh yeah, the propane tanks? Do you just return those?

[Lainey]

Check out earth911.com to recycle some small electronics.

[Miss Cellane]

I called the landfill and they ARE open monday, that is great. However they do not take 'electronics', I checked and that includes my small swamp cooler. I also have a handheld carpet cleaner and an electric mower. I am not sure where to look next, maybe the recycling places that will take it for metal? And what if the items are more plastic than metal? I really want to clean this out and it is becoming a real chore.

I also have a grill that is not working but I think I can find a place to take that, it is mostly metal. Oh yeah, the propane tanks? Do you just return those?

Zoe girl, I don't know where you live, but for most of what you've listed, my town has instructions on disposal on the town website. My suggestion would be to check there first. If you can't find anything, then call. Find out if they have bulky waste disposal days, or hazardous waste days.

One place I lived held quarterly hazardous waste days in combination with three other surrounding towns, as none of the towns had space for permanent places to deal with the stuff. On those days, you could get masses of paper shredded for free, drop off hazardous wastes and electronics and bulky things like refrigerators.

[Jilly]

In the US, most Goodwill Industries locations will take old electronics. They cannot sell them, but they do recycle them, and whilst it is not much, they do get a small return on the materials they send to those specialized recyclers. It gives them a bit of extra funding and the toxic parts of electronics do not end up polluting anywhere.

Also in the US, some of the big box electronic stores will take in recyclable electronics. Best Buy will take anything, but they charge $10.00 for each item and give you a $10.00 gift card in return for each item. If you need something from them, that is a decent idea. Having fewer stuff was important to me, so I used the good folk at Goodwill.

[PastTense]

A fundamental principle is that "One person's trash is another person's treasure". So post the items on local bulletin boards, put in on your lawn with a sign "free electric mower", post on the local Craigslist and Freecycle. While people are most interested in items which still work, there are also people interested in items for the parts or who are willing to repair the items.

And of course many people simply put smaller items in garbage bags (or break them up/take them apart and put them in garbage bags).

[iris lilies]

For decades we pick up things from the alley and then starting about 2010 I said: No MORE! We need to be getting RID of items, not bringing them in.

So it's very hard for us to walk by cool stuff in the alley, very hard indeed.

But now our neighborhood is having an annual sale at the local antiques-on-the-park event, so DH and I can pull stuff in and mess with it to make it better all we like AND have a way to get rid of it! Win-win. All of us in the neighborhood delight in selling items that we've pulled in from the alley.

[fidgiegirl]

Best Buy will take anything, but they charge $10.00 for each item and give you a $10.00 gift card in return for each item.

I believe the Best Buy policy has changed and they now take things for free, but not the stuff Zoe is talking about - more like monitors and keyboards and stuff like that. Here is the info. (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025)

Following up on Past Tense's suggestion, we've had great luck with giving challenging stuff away on CL, especially if working, but even sometimes broken stuff. It's pretty amazing what handy people can fix.

In our area, the grill would be picked up by scrappers within a few days if left in the alley.

The propane tanks, yes, return to a place that sells them (assuming they were tanks from the grill?).

Good luck! It's a pain but it will be great to have the detritus out.