Donating Toys: Doing Good Instead of Throwing Them Away

Donating gently used toys is a great way to combat consumerism and declutter your home. Here are a few ways that you can reduce waste by donating your unloved toys.

Goodwill & The Salvation Army

Both Goodwill and The Salvation Army have a long history of rehoming old and well-loved toys. Donating to either of these charities is a reliable way of reducing your waste production, as well as ensuring that your donation will be left in safe hands. If you’re heading to goodwill to make a donation, you might want to find out: Does Goodwill Take Underwear, Bras & Socks?

Recycling Programs

Many old children’s toys can be cleaned in an eco-friendly way to look new. Learn how to clean bath toys the eco-friendly way, for example. However, getting in contact with your local recycling services is another easy way to donate your old and damaged toys. Alternatively, you can use charities such as FreeCycle and TerraCycle to declutter better quality toys for a profit locally. 

Donating Toys to Animal Shelters

Although mainly focusing on stuffed animals, many animal shelters take used toys as donations, especially for dogs. As well as being used as chew toys, old children’s toys are often reused by shelter animals for play and to reduce kennel stress. 

Daycare Centres & Preschools

Encouraging your kids to do crafts instead of buying new toys is a great way to reduce your consumerism. Similarly, donating to a local day-care centre or preschool is also an easy way to quickly reduce your waste outtake and guarantee that your old toys will continue to be played with for years to come. Often, daycares and preschools will be open to taking a range of donations provided they are of a decent quality. 

‘Toys for Tots’

A national organisation sponsored by the US Marines, ‘Toys for Tots’ is a donation-based charity that focuses on giving every child a gift for Christmas. Here, your donation will be taken to a redistribution centre and given to foster homes and children’s social services alike.

Donating Toys to Police & Fire Departments

Police and firefighters often use donated toys and stuffed animals to better communicate with children under crisis circumstances. Try finding your local department and contacting them beforehand to check which kinds of toys they accept. 

‘Stuffed Animals for Emergencies’

Similarly to ‘Toys for Tots’, this non-profit charity accepts gently used toys and other children’s items. Once donated, your items will be given to organisations in your local area that care for children in traumatic and emotional situations. 

Donating Toys to Local Shelters

Women’s and homeless shelters care for children and families with few possessions and accept donations of old toys and gently used baby items. By donating your toys to a local shelter, you will be guaranteeing your donations a loving home.

Independent Thrift Stores

Many local thrift stores need donations to fill up their children’s sections and will be happy to take your preloved toys. This is an easy and sustainable way to reduce your waste outtake in a local sense, as your donations will not need to be repackaged or transported far. There’s already a lot of packaging that makes you question humanity, anyway.

Read more:

• Environmental Organizations: 8 NGOs and Non-Profits Worth Supporting
• 18 Gifts for Environmentalists in 2022
• What to Do With Old Clothes: 10 Impactful Ideas

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Tags: Consumerism Guide