Best Donation Centers in Los Angeles: Keep Your Decluttered Items From Ending Up in a Landfill
- Kendall
- Feb 6, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 23
My Eco-friendly Donation and Recycling Resources List
"I want to declutter my home, but I don't want to add to the landfill." As a home organizer, I hear this all the time. I get it. We all want to minimize our impact on the environment and we certainly don't want our clutter to become our planet's problem.
But this is not an excuse to put off tidying your home. To help you declutter responsibly, below is a list of the best donation centers and recycling programs where I have sustainably discarded my clients' decluttered items as well as my own.
By directing your decluttered items to the right place, you're much more likely to NOT add to a landfill. And sometimes "the right place" is NOT a donation center-- I have included below places that accept textiles and electronics that are too old, worn, torn, stained or broken to be donated. Every resource listed here is easy and convenient. I'm based in Los Angeles but most of these resources are available in many parts of the country. Share with friends, family, coworkers, neighbors and more!
Do you have a favorite donation center? Post in the Comments below and share your ideas with fellow readers.
Wondering how a Home Organizer can help you? Read answers to the most frequently asked questions I receive from prospective clients.
The Princess Project
"The Princess Project promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school teens who could not otherwise afford them."
The Princess Project accepts donations of dresses less than five years old, dry-cleaned and stain free, as well as gently used shoes, jewelery, unopened makeup, handbags and other accessories. Learn more and find a drop off location near you on their website: princessproject.org
Donations can be dropped off at one of four local chapters in California: San Francisco, Sonoma, Silicon Valley, San Diego Corporate HQ and the following locations in Los Angeles and Orange County:
Margaret's Cleaners
10700 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 160
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Margaret's Cleaners
1831 Westcliff Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660
If a drop off is not near you, you can ship donations to:
The Princess Project
P.O. Box 600761
San Diego, CA 92160-0761
Curious how home organizing sessions have helped others? Hear from my clients about their experience.
Operation Blankets of Love
Operation Bankets of Love rescues the rescuers. They provide pet food and supplies to animal rescues and shelters in Los Angeles and across the country. OBOL is on-call in emergencies, providing relief when natural disasters hit like earthquakes, floods and the recent LA wildfires. In addition, OBOL provides supplies and help for struggling pet owners including seniors, low-income families, disabled pet owners and veterans. Read more about Operation Blankets of Love on their website: obol.info
Operation Blankets of Love accepts blankets, towels, crates, pet wheelchairs and strollers, pet food, pet beds, leashes, harnesses and collars, medical and grooming items, pee pads and kitty litter, pet toys, stainless steel bowls and more animal supplies.
OBOL's many drop off locations throughout Southern California make donating easy and convenient. Click to find DROP OFF LOCATIONS near you.
Donate Books Fast
Donate Books Fast is a family-owned, book pickup service based in Los Angeles. They redistribute unwanted books to new homes, libraries and charitable organizations.
As the name indicates, the team at Donate Books Fast really works fast and they're super friendly. Simply fill out the brief form on their website and the team will be in touch within 24 hours to schedule a convenient pickup date and time that works for you.
Learn more and schedule a pickup on the Donate Books Fast website: donatebooksfast.org.
Better World Books
If you don't live in the LA area, you can donate books to Better World Books. Better World Books sells books online to support literacy organizations that build schools and libraries, teach children and support families around the world. Learn more on their website: www.betterworldbooks.com
Better World Books has convenient drop boxes throughout the Northeast, Midwest and South. Click to find a DROP BOX near you. Better World Books also accepts book donations through the mail.
Attention: Donations
Better World Books
55740 Currant Road
Mishawaka, IN 46545
Pickup Please
Pickup Please provides free, easy pickups in support of the following charitable organizations: Vietnams Veterans of America, Veterans' Voice of America, Special Olympics, Teen Challenge of Southern California and Clean International.
Pickup Please accepts clothing, household goods, toys, electronics, books, equipment, small furnishings and more. Items must be small and light enough for one person to easily lift and carry.
To learn more about Pickup Please and schedule a pickup, check out their website: pickupplease.org.
Suay It Forward
Suay It Forward is a fully circular, 100% landfill diversion, textile recycling program based at Suay Sew Shop in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles. Suay accepts clothing, towels and light blankets. Stains, holes and rips are okay! All donated textiles are remade into clothing and household goods at Suay's sewing and production shop. Since their start in 2017, Suay has diverted millions of pounds of textiles from landfills. Suay Sew Shop has done incredible work to reduce clothing waste, support the local LA community and advocate for the rights of garments workers, and fair wages.
A $20 Suay It Forward bag fits 20 lbs of clothing and earns you $20 in store credit. Suay accepts drop offs Thursday through Sunday. Learn more here on their websit: Suay It Forward.
Trashie
If you're not in the LA area, there's Trashie's The Take Back Bag for all your worn, torn, ripped, stained and too ugly to donate clothing, linens, shoes, accessories and mor. Stop donating clothing and other items that are heavily worn or damaged. No one wants your old stained clothes.
The Take Back Bag is easy to order on the company's website. All you do is fill the bag with your unwanted items and mail it back. They do the rest.
Trashie sorts through all the donated goods and redistributes everything, keeping 95% of unwanted donations out of landfills.
Learn more and order The Take Back Bag on Trashie's website: trashie.io
And now Trashie also accepts electronic waste including phones, tablets, cables, laptops and more. Order The Tech Take Back Box on Trashie's website also.
Bicycle Ambulance
Santa Monica's Bicycle Ambulance is a great privately owned bike shop on Lincoln Blvd. They accept donated bicycle clothing, helmets, bicycles and bike gear. Find their location and learn more on their website here: Bicycle Ambulance
Habitat for Humanity ReStores
Do you have furniture, building materials, tools or household goods you're looking to donate? Habitat for Humanity ReStore accepts donations and it's easy to schedule a pickup. Please be sure to only donate items that are in good working order, something you would buy from a thrift shop. For broken, stained and unusable materials, see the LA Sanitation and Environment section below. Learn more on their website: Habitat for Humanity ReStore
LA Sanitation and Environment
The City of Los Angeles has convenient permanent collection sites for your electronic and hazardous household waste. These S.A.F.E. Centers are open every weekend.
Items collected at S.A.F.E. Centers include: paint, paint thinners, cleaners and solvents, used oil, furniture polish and unwanted electronic equipment.
Find a S.A.F.E. Center near you on the LASAN website: LEARN MORE HERE.
Bulky Item Collection (mattresses, doors, carpets, furniture and more) is available and easy to schedule. For more info or to schedule a pickup, call or go the website: LEARN MORE HERE.
LA Public Library - Battery Collection
Do not throw batteries in the trash. Batteries can release harmful chemicals and gases into the environment if not disposed of properly. All 73 branches of the Los Angeles Public Library provide free drop-off recycling for household batteries. Alkaline, rechargable and button cell batteries are accepted. Please be sure to tape the terminals before dropping them off to reduce fire hazards.
Find your nearest LAPL branch here: FIND THE LAPL.
Thinking of hiring a home organizer? Let's talk about how you can reach your home organizing and decluttering goals. Reach out and schedule a free phone consultation.
About Kendall: My mission as a home organizer is to help families and communities take SMALL STEPS to organize and declutter at home in an eco-friendly way that starts to build BIG CHANGE in the world. Consider becoming an Official Declutter Buddy by joining my Email List. Fill out the Subscribe form below.
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