Some organizations that will welcome your unwanted items:
Bower reuse and repair co-op
The Bower collects unwanted goods and resells them to the community. It is also a repair and reuse centre that offers a Referral Service - if they can't accept your items they will help you find someone who might: www.bower.org.au
Cartridges 4 Planet Ark
Recycle your old printer, ink and laser cartridges for re-manufacturing and to help produce new things like, fridges and ink pens. Visit www.cartridges.planetark.org 
OzRecycle
We all have things laying around we no longer use. Why not help them find a new home and donate them to OzRecycle. Visitwww.ozrecycle.com
Reverse Garbage
A not-for-profit cooperative that sells industrial discards to the public for creative and practical projects:www.reversegarbage.org.au
St Vincent de Paul
Families in need are given household items, clothes and toys free of charge while surplus items are sold through Vinnie's Centres. Even torn clothing can be recycled and sold to companies as cleaning rags: www.vinnies.org.au
The Smith Family
The Smith Family will find a new home for your clean and wearable unwanted clothing and accessories. Individuals or business can donate in NSW by calling the Material Donation Line on 1300 737 166. Visit www.thesmithfamily.com.au
The Salvation Army Stores
The Salvation Army can reuse materials that are too good to dispose of: www.salvosstores.com.au
Toy Restoration Centre
The Toy Restoration Centre at Jannali repairs and donates unwanted toys to disadvantaged children. Call 02 9528 4024.
You might have not realised yet, but you may be sitting on a little gold mine of unused items!
So why not try some of this ideas before sending this things to a landfill:
-
Ebay is a world known vehicle for selling and buying just about anything on a variety of ways for a small fee;
-
Gumtree is like a massive notice board online and it's free to use;
-
Scoodi is all about trading localy and you can give, sell, find and buy on it;
- holding a garage sale is always a great one if you have a lot of things to get rid of;
Australians generate over 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste (E-waste for short) each year and most of it ends up in landfill. As well as putting more pressure on our already stretched landfill sites, E-waste is alos hazardous. For example, contaminants from E-waste can leach into the groundwater table and pollute it.
Did you know?
Many of the E-waste items received still work and some charities are happy to take them. Likewise you could give them a second life through sites such as OzRecycle. Before using this service, why not see if you can find a new home for your unwanted electronic goods?
The City of Sydney usually holds E-waste drop-off days four times a year.
2011 drop-off dates
Bring your E-waste to Bay Street Depot in Ultimo (corner of Bay and Macarthur Street), between 9am and 3pm on the following dates:
- Sunday 6 March
- Sunday 5 June
- Sunday 11 September
- Sunday 4 December
Around 95% of all the E-waste collected on drop-off days is recovered and reused. Below is a list of the items you can drop off.
- Televisions
- Computers - desktops, monitors, laptops, joysticks and printers
- Home and office equipment - photocopiers, fax machines, scanners, servers, projectors, DVD players, video recorders
- Electronic games, CDs, DVDs, tapes and cameras
- Electronic components
- Phones - mobiles and landlines
- Household batteries
Items that aren't accept
White goods (microwaves, toasters and bar fridges etc) should be recycled through the City's free, pre-booked White Goods kerbside collection service. Call 02 9265 9333 to arrange a collection.
Save the items below for the next Chemical CleanOut collection(they can't be accepted at an E-waste drop off). Remember to store them safely.
- Hazardous waste - chemicals, paints and pesticides
- Car batteries
- Smoke alarms
- Fluorescent tubes and energy saving light globes (CFLs)
Did you know?
The City supports a national scheme for managing electronic waste, where producers are responsible for recycling products at the end of their useful life. State Governments are working with the Federal Government to develop such a policy.
More information
To check locations of other E-waste recycling services, vist the Recycling Near You website.
Source City Of Sydney Website.
The City offers a FREE kerbside collection for white goods and large household items every Wednesday. Bookings are essential and must be made by 2pm on the Tuesday before.
Call 9265 9333 to book.
Before using this service, consider 'Reuse' and see if you can find a new home for unwanted items.
What if I live in a unit?
You can still use the white goods and large household items service, but you will need to ask your building manager, caretaker or body corporate to call the City on 9265 9333.
What will be collected:
- White goods - fridges, washing
machines, ovens, BBQs
- Heaters, hotwater systems - household metal items
- Kitchen appliances
- Household appliances – TVs*, computers*, radios, toasters etc
- Furniture – lounges, rugs, mattresses etc
What will NOT be collected:
- Motor or cooking oil
- Vehicle batteries
- Tyres and car parts
- Carpet
- Building and demolition materials
Metal items like white goods are recycled. Everything else isn't.
* check E-Waste drop off days for those items.
Click here for: How to present household waste for collection.
Important! Make sure you read How to present bulky household waste for collection before booking. The City has strict guidelines about the way bulky items must be put out for collection and will not collect items that are not properly prepared.
If your items are not collected
If your items are missed on collection day, please ask your building manager, caretaker or body corporate to report the missed service on 9265 9333 so we can investigate why and arrange collection as soon as possible.
What happens to it?
White goods are taken away for metal recycling and used to make products like steel cans.
Top tips
- Protect young children - remove fridge/oven doors and place them next to appliances. This avoids the risk of suffocation.
- Place your white goods apart from your large household items – they are collected separately for metal recycling.
- Don’t put out items that aren’t booked for collection or you could be fined up to $1,500 for illegal dumping.
Fridge Buyback
Before putting your old second fridge out for our White Goods collection, why not try recycling it through the Fridge Buyback Scheme – you can save around $250 a year on your electricity bill and may even be eligible for a rebate.
City of Sydney residents can pick up a FREE "No Advertising Material" sticker for their letterbox to help prevent unwanted junk mail.
Stickers are available at:
- Glebe Neighbourhood Service Centre
- Redfern Neighbourhood Service Centre
- Kings Cross Neighbourhood Service Centre
- One Stop Shop, Town Hall House.
Here are some other contacts to help cut down the amount of unwanted mail you receive.
Distribution Standards Board
"No Advertising Material" stickers can be ordered from the Distribution Standards Board on 1800 676 136.
Sensis
Ever saw piles of yellow pages in front of buildings and wondered: "What a waste?" Just register to stop them!
Register to STOP receiving White or Yellow Pages by calling Sensis on 1800 810 211 or at directoryselect.com.au. Click here for more information.
Australian Direct Marketing Association
Register your name on the Australian Direct Marketing Association’s Do Not Mail Service to stop contact from ADMA members.
Source City Of Sydney Website.
Update on 2011-06-22 05:28 by [Your Name Here]
Let's keep Chippendale Streets clean and tidy! If you would like to keep receiving your junk mail at least make sure that whatever ones you do not want to read end up in the recicling bin not on our sidewalks! We all wanna live in a beautiful place, right?