the Mt Airy Greening Net (MAGNet)
presents the
A to Z directory of local reuse & recycling options
to answer the questions
What Do I Do With...? as well as Where Can I Recycle...?

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U V  W  X  Y  Z

recent updates high-lighted
A
Aerosol cans Empty cans are picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling
Remove cap & place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood
Aluminum cans Empty cans are picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling
Rinse & place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood
Aluminum foil Clean foil, such as washed pie pans, can be placed in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood. Will be picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling 
Antifreeze Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Asbestos Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Athletic Shoes see Shoes, Athletic
B
Bikes & bike parts Neighborhood Bike Works in West Philly accepts bike donations for kids
3916 Locust Walk, Philadelphia PA 19104 / 215 386 0316
Brake fluid Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Books

Donate to:
1. the Free Library of Philadelphia, serving all of us. Contact The Book Corner, our Friends-run book swap, at 311 N 20th St (the corner of 20th and Wood) / 215-567-0527 / Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. For more than a small box of books, call first!

2. in West Philly - Books through Bars, providing books to citizens in prison. 
4722 Baltimore Ave | Philadelphia PA 19143 | 215 727 8170

3. in Mt Airy - Walk a Crooked Mile bookstore
7423 Devon St | Philadelphia PA 19119 | Greg Williams | 215 242 0854

4. in Springfield township - take to the book drive every 2nd Saturday from 9-noon at the Springfield Township High School (Papermill & Route 309). Proceeds benefit the VFW Lodge on Elm Street in Wyndmoor PA.

Books, hardcover fictionLovett Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia
Books, hardcover non-fictionEast Falls Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia
Bottlecaps, plasticAveda, yes, the cosmetics company, has started a plastic bottlecap recycling program. Collect & drop off...
1. in Center City, take to the Aveda store at One Liberty Place
3. in Willow Grove, take to the Aveda store in the mall
Building Materials ReStore, a store for used building materials
3016 E Thompson St | Philadelphia PA 19134 | 215 634 3474
Wed - Thu 10-6 | Fri-Sat 10-5
C
Cat stuff Kitty Cottage, the only cageless cat shelter in the region accepts:
scratching posts, cat litter, cat food, grooming products, cat treats &
paper towels, cleaning products, towels, afghans

Dropoff at 1536 DeKalb Pike in Bluebell.
Cardboard ** new ** Clean & flattened, cardboard is picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling. Place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood.
CDs & DVDs Any unwanted CDs & DVDs will be used in an ongoing arts & crafts project for kids visiting Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. Contact Stevik in Mt Airy
Cell Phones Dropoff at:
1. Chestnut Hill (19118) - St Paul’s Episcopal Church, who recycles these and forwards the revenues to the Heifer Fund, a group that works toward 'Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth'.

2. Elsewhere - the Pennsylvania Coalition against Domestic Violence has drop-off locations thru-out the state; find one near you!

3. Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp has locations across the nation. Go to Call2Recycle.org, or call 1-877-2-RECYCLE to find a drop-off site near you.
CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) 1. ** new ** in Mt Airy, contact Meenal of the Green House Detectives, offering complmentary neighborhood recycling.
2. Take to the Returns Dept of your nearest Ikea store. There are clearly marked bins, and they accept these at no charge to you. The lamps being turned in for recycling don't even have to be purchased at Ikea.
3. ** new ** Take to any Home Depot store.
China, broken In Mt Airy - Tesserae Studio & Gallery will accept colored china or tiles for mosaic projects / 6780 Germantown Ave / Philadelphia, PA 19119 / Jessica / 215 848 2110
Clothing, children's Association of Child Daycare Providers / 3125 Reach Street / Philadelphia, PA 19134
Monica Wright / 267-242-6304
Clothing Planet Aid / proceeds from sale of clothes benefit schools in developing nations
Jen Kullas / 267 243 5435
Find a drop-off box near you. Contact Jen for current locations or if you can offer a new site for their boxes.
Computers For reuse, donate to Nonprofit Technology Resources / 1524 Brandywine St / Philadelphia PA 19130.
For recycling, dropoff at the City of Philadelphia's next Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Concrete Take your concrete rubble to Winzinger's, they'll crush it & recycle into roadfill.
Delaware & Allegheny Ave / Philadelphia, PA 19131 / 215 425 4422
Crayons Here's someone that makes new crayons from old! Why not send Rebecca your stubs?
For more info, see Rebecca's Recycled Riters or contact Rebecca herself.
D
Degreasers Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Dog Stuff (beds, bowls, collars, crates, leashes, medicine, treats, toys) Save our Small Dogs / Cherry Hill, NJ / Barbara Ross
DVDs & CDs Any unwanted CDs & DVDs will be used in an ongoing arts & crafts project for kids visiting Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. Contact Stevik in Mt Airy
E
Egg Cartons Greensgrow Farm, in Kensington, could use clean egg cartons for the eggs they sell, as will most farmer's markets that sell eggs. 
Eggshells nearest compost pile, of course!
1. Mt Airy - there are dozens; ask a neighbor if you can share his!
2. Elsewhere - see Philadelphia Composting Program for more info on starting your own.
Electronics ** new ** Dropoff at the City of Philadelphia's Northwest & Northeast Sanitation convenience sites from Monday thru Saturday 8am till 6om or at their next Household Hazardous Waste collection day. 
Eyeglasses 1. The Lions Club collects eyeglasses and distributes them around the world. One of their 7 recycling center in the US is in Trenton
2. Any Lenscrafters store
3. Any Goodwill store
F
Fruit peels nearest compost pile, of course!
1. Mt Airy - there are dozens; ask a neighbor if you can share his!
2. Elsewhere - see Philadelphia Composting Program for more info on starting your own.
Furniture 1. Nationalities Service Center / Help new immigrants setup homes
1300 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 / Juliane Ramic / (215) 893-8400

2. **new** One House at a Time / www.ohaat.org / Office@ohaat.org / Debi or Jean (215) 646-7812 / They will pick up gently used furniture and donate it to those people in need.  They're located in Ambler, and will pick up in the area and parts of the city.
Furniture, children's Association of Child Daycare Providers / 3125 Reach Street / Philadelphia, PA 19134
Monica Wright / 267-242-6304
G
Glass food jars Picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling
Rinse & place (minus the lid) in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood.
H
I
J
Junk mail Picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling. Place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood. 
K
Kitchen scraps nearest compost pile, of course!
1. Mt Airy - there are dozens; ask a neighbor if you can share his!
2. Elsewhere - see Philadelphia Composting Program for more info on starting your own.
L
Lead Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
LPs (Long Playing records, for those that don't remember!) Dropoff donations at the Friends of the Free Library Bookstore
215 567 0527 / 19th & Wood / Philadelphia, PA
M, T, Th, F 10-6 / W 10-7 / S 10-5
Lumber Untreated wood of any size accepted by:
Urban Nutrition Initiative / used for raised beds & chicken coops in various schoolyards
Sir Papalo
M
Magazines Donate sets to the Free Library of Philadelphia
Magazines & catalogs ** new ** Picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling, place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood
Mercury Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
N
Newspaper ** new ** Picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling, place in a rigid container on the Recycling day in your neighborhood.
O
P
Paint cans Dry empty cans are handled by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling, place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood
Paint thinner Dropoff at Philadelphia's Household Hazardous Waste collection.
Phone books ** new ** Picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling, place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood.
Plastic airpacks For reuse, dropoff at the UPS Store / 7715 Crittenden St / Philadelphia, PA 19118. This is in the Market Square Shopping Center with SuperFresh. Open M-F 9-7, Sat 9-5.
Plastic bags Dropoff clean plastic bags at your local supermarket. Most supermarkets have a bin for these by their entrance. Better yet, take your reuseable canvas bags so you have less plastic bags to recycle!
In Mt Airy, there's the Acme or SuperFresh.
Plastic containers labeled 1 (PETE) These are usually clear deli containers, soda bottles, water bottles, cooking oil bottles. Need to be rinsed clean, with caps removed. As of July '08, picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling. Place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood.
Plastic containers labeled 2 (HDPE) These are usually opaque milk jugs & detergent bottles. Need to be rinsed clean, with caps removed. As of July '08, picked up by Philadelphia's Curbside recycling. Place in rigid container on Recycling day in your neighborhood.
Printer cartridges Dropoff at your nearest Staples store where they have drop-boxes and will recycle them.

In Mt Airy, there's a drop-box at Weavers Way. Proceeds are a fundraiser for the CW Henry Elementary School
Prom Dresses Fairy Godmother will accept them. 
Q
R
Rechargeable Batteries** new ** Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp has locations across the nation. Go to Call2Recycle.org, or call 1-877-2-RECYCLE to find a drop-off site near you.
Rubberbands Since most of our excess rubberbands appear to originate from the US Post Office, we've tried returning some. Our local branch was glad to put them back into circulation. Maybe yours will too.
S
Scrap Metal Dropoff at:
1. Germantown (19144) - Geppert Recycling / 4500 Wayne Ave
215 842 0122 / M-F 9-5 / Sat 9-12 / www.geppertrecycling.com
If you've got aluminum, they'll even pay you!
Sheets Dropoff at your local SPCA or animal shelter. They use these as bedding for animals.
Shoes Planet Aid / proceeds from sale of clothes benefit schools in developing nations
Jen Kullas / 267 243 5435
Find a drop-off box near you. Contact Jen for current locations or if you can offer a new site for their boxes.
Shoes, athletic

See Nike’s Reuse a Shoe shoe recycling program under which 2 Philly retailers will accept upto 10 pairs at a time. One is City Sports @ 1608 Walnut St. The other is Rittenhouse Sports Specialists @ 1729 Chestnut St.

In Quakertown, Emily has kindly offered to collect and take to the Philly retailers.

Sneakers see Shoes, athletic
Styrofoam packing peanuts Dropoff & these places will reuse the peanuts.

1. in Chestnut Hill, the UPS Store / 7715 Crittenden St / Philadelphia, PA 19118. This is in the Market Square Shopping Center with SuperFresh. Open M-F 9-7, Sat 9-5. Also accepts plastic airpacks.

2. in Conshohocken, Susan @ Got Your Back / 521 E. Hector St / Conshohocken, PA  19428 / 1-800 677-9830. 

3. Elsewhere / Mail Boxes Etc.
T
Tiles

1. Mt Airy - Tesserae Studio & Gallery will accept colored china or tiles for mosaic projects / 6780 Germantown Ave / Philadelphia, PA 19119
Jessica / 215 848 2110


2. Our local Freecycler Adam Rogers

Towels Dropoff at your local SPCA or animal shelter. They use these as bedding for animals.
Toys Association of Child Daycare Providers / 3125 Reach Street / Philadelphia, PA 19134
Monica Wright / 267-242-6304
U
V
W
Wedding Accessories Veils, gowns, unity candle holders, candles, ring pillows, flower girl baskets...basically, Blue Skies Weddings will accept anything leftover from a wedding that could be used by another couple.
Wine corks They're recycled in Australia & Europe. Why not here as well? Participate in an experiment by sending yours to Yemm & Hart.
X
Y
Yard waste nearest compost pile, of course!
1. Mt Airy - there are dozens; ask a neighbor if you can share his!
2. Elsewhere - see Philadelphia Composting Program for more info on starting your own.
Z

Return to MAGNet home
Questions? Comments? Additions? Please send them on to  us. This page last updated: 11 Jun 2008