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Save the date for our Fall 2024 Reuse-a-Palooza at The Plant! This semiannual event provides opportunities to repair clothing and household items, safely dispose tricky-to-recycle items, and donate bicycles, gently used books, and more, all the while bringing attention to strategies to reduce waste and improve environmental conditions.
We’ll be joined by an amazing group of waste-reduction and repurposing enthusiasts focusing on approaches to purchasing and consumption that make good sense economically, environmentally, and socially. Plan to see our friends at Reduce Waste Chicago, EcoShip, PCs for People, Community Glue, Working Bikes, Madd Science Print Lab, Envision Unlimited, Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange, and others! They'll be on hand to repair, responsibly recycle, craft with upcycled materials, screen print gently loved clothes, and discuss new strategies to reduce our environmental footprint and advocate for greater change.
New for Fall 2024 are Rebuilding Exchange, which will be accepting small tools and hardware items as specified below, and Trash Castle, a recent addition to Bubbly, which will be collecting #1, #2, and #5 plastics for repurposing into new products.
And yes, of course, we’ve got some Halloween fun in the hopper: bring your costume from last year, and try out one that’s new to you! The Chicago Green Theatre Alliance will get us started with their stash of donated costumes. Weird & wacky accessories, nail polish, and unused makeup are all welcomed for the exchange.
Plus, Bubbly Dynamics will be showcasing our in-house practices to refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle materials here at The Plant and at Bubbly. We will be offering a tour of The Plant at 2pm sharp — advance tickets are strongly suggested and will be available shortly.
Even if you’ve come to Reuse-a-Palooza before, PLEASE check the lists of accepted items below! Our collection is a little different each time, so we’d like to help you avoid showing up with your arms full of items that aren’t being accepted.
The full list of tricky-to-recycle items being collected by the rockstars at Reduce Waste Chicago is forthcoming, so stay tuned!
And here’s an overview of other items we’ll be accepting for donation / repurposing / recycling (and where these items will go):
- Beer carriers, both cardboard (Made by Q) and plastic snap-on Pak Tech carriers (Whiner)
- Bicycles and old bike tire tubes (Working Bikes and Bikes ‘n Roses)
- Books, games, and puzzles, gently used (Back of the Yards branch of the Chicago Public Library)
- Computers and old technology, only as listed here (PCs for People)
- Contact lens cases and packaging, any brand (TerraCycle)
- Crayons, any brand/condition (SCARCE, Crayon Initiative)
- Dental product packaging, such as toothpaste tubes/caps, toothbrushes, floss containers; any brand (TerraCycle)
- Deodorant containers & caps, any brand (TerraCycle)
- Eyeglasses, usable; no sunglasses or cases (Lions Club, OneSight)
- Face masks, disposable only (TerraCycle)
- Gym shoes past their useful life (GotSneakers)
- Household repair items + tools: Light fixtures and lamps, small wood furniture, door and window hardware, cabinet knobs and pulls, hand tools and working power tools, planters, tile in lots over 40 sq.ft., towel bars and bathroom hooks (Rebuilding Exchange)
- Keys, metal only; no key chains (sold as scrap)
- Office, art, and school supplies, and similar materials per the Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange’s Most Wanted list
- Packing materials, only as listed on their website (EcoShip)
- Yarn, fabric scraps or rags, and clothing beyond repair to be used for crafting (Envision Unlimited)
We also appreciate donations of the following new, in-package items to share with our neighbors:
- Food, fresh, unexpired food for humans and pets! (Love Fridge; see donation guidelines here)
Interested in helping out, or know someone who might be? Students and adults are welcome to come volunteer, and our partner organizations are able to sign off on community service hours. Sign up here!
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1400 W 46th St, Chicago, IL 60609-3225, United States
