How Do I Get Rid of an Old Mattress?
You can take your old mattress to the landfill, or have John’s Refuse pick it up and haul it away but how about some greener ways to deal with an old mattress? Here are just a few:
Greener Ways to Dispose of an Old Mattress
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Check out Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website. It explains the new 2013 Connecticut legislation regarding mattress recycling, and offers a list of mattress recycling locations and information about the recycling process.
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Give away or sell your gently used mattress. Use local classified ads or Craigslist to advertise.
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Donate your mattress to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, a women’s shelter, homeless shelter, disaster relief organization, or other local thrift store (but call first to be sure they accept mattresses).
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Take apart your old mattress and reuse the parts! The wooden frame can be used for carpentry projects or for your next campfire. Use the metal springs creatively as garden art, vine trellises, or wine holders, or can be taken to a metal recycling facility. The fabric and stuffing can be reused to create pet beds.
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Participate in a competition like Discarded Dreams! Or start your own competition that emphasizes the creation of innovative and useful products from old mattresses!
With so many available options for mattress reuse and recycling, simply taking your old mattress to the landfill just doesn’t seem as exciting anymore!
Key Takeaways:
- For an additional fee, John’s Refuse can pick up your old mattress, or you can consult the EPA for other options
- Mattresses can be donated or sold
- You can recycle the individual parts of your mattress by taking it apart
Learn More About Zero Waste:
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Photo Credit: Cleaner Croydon