Furniture Alternative ways to recycle Bulky Item Pickup Reuse: Before you call for a Bulky pick up (landfill), is the furniture still useful for someone else? If a thrift store won’t take it, maybe someone else in your community will! Check out the many marketplace sites that connect your unwanted items with someone who will gladly take it. Even put it on your property and mark “free” while checking on it frequently before giving up and scheduling a Bulky pick up. Retailer Take Back Programs: IKEA is trying to keep more of their non-upholstered items out of the waste stream through their buy back program (for store credit). Available at their Burbank store. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/services/buyback-pubfeb6cc00 Alternative Ways to Recycle IKEA Buy Back Program Resell your IKEA furniture for store credit through their Buy Back & Resell program. This program is available to IKEA Family Members and can help give your used furniture a new home and/or use. Ways to Reduce Sell or Give Away Unwanted Furniture It’s easy to sell or give away unwanted furniture. Even if your furniture is in rough shape, it’s likely someone could use it or would be willing to fix it up themselves. Ways to Reuse Add a New Coat of Paint If a piece of furniture looks worn out, consider giving it a makeover, such as reupholstering. Even adding a fresh coat of paint can brighten up any old furniture piece. Buy Secondhand Furniture Consider saving a few dollars by purchasing furniture secondhand, but always check to see if the piece of furniture is broken. Also check for mold on the wooden parts of the furniture. Did You Know? How Your Furniture May Be Harming California Condors A recent study found that populations of the endangered California Condor have elevated levels of toxic contaminants like mercury and PBDEs, a flame retardant. PBDEs leech into the environment through close contact with or improper disposal of the items that contain them, such as stuffed and upholstered furniture. These chemicals have also been shown to have negative health effects on people.
