Tuesday, May 12, 2015

One Person's Trash is Another Person's Treasure

Back in March when I was cleaning out the office I ended up with a substantial stack of used CDs. I hate to throw things away, so I investigated places that could reuse or recycle them.  After a little research I discovered that the St. Louis Teacher's Recycle Center at Chesterfield Mall about twenty minutes away from my house would take them, so I put the stack where I'd remember to take them the next time work or errands took me that way.

There was only one small problem--the center's only open on Tuesday (afternoons) and Saturday.  It took until today for my schedule to align with theirs, but after I fed the cats their afternoon meal I jumped in the car and headed towards the mall.  The center is located on the lower level, around the corner from Sears and right next to a mall exit.  I was happy to see that it was indeed open when I walked towards it.

The small store is packed to the gills with all types of interesting items.  One section holds dry goods such as fabric, ribbon, and yarn, and related sewing notions.  The 'hardware department' has a selection of nuts, bolts, washers, wire, and tiles.  In the paper goods area there are stacks of foam core, scrapbooking papers and supplies, white and colored paper, and card stock.  The office supplies section contains all types of school art and teacher supplies.  There are also several racks holding books, magazines new and vintage, and promotional materials.  Then there are the multitude of miscellaneous things that don't fit into categories -- containers of corks, juice lids, puzzle pieces, shells,  jewelry, baby food jars, metal coffee cans, and juice lids.  And more.  I enjoy browsing through it because you never know exactly what you're going to find.

I thought the store was doing me a favor by taking my discards, but it turns out they benefited from my junk donation, too.  The store associate told me she'd just had a request for CDs and had to turn the person down because they didn't have any in stock. 

I love win-win situations!

5 comments:

  1. wow I never knew there would be a use for old CDs.

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  2. I've seen them dangling and flashing in gardens, to frighten birds, but beyond that, I have no idea what to do with them.

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    1. I suspect there's some craft uses, but I don't know that for a fact.

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  3. i'm going to have to do my research. I am in dire need of a place like this for oh, so many things that I would like to recycle. We have the Salvation Army here that accepts pretty much anything but it would be nice to have an option such as yours. And I really understand that feeling of relief when you go there and they are OPEN. Good on you.

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    1. Good luck finding a place. It's a great feeling to get rid of 'stuff".

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