Don't throw it away!

Before you throw something away, consider donating it.
New York City's Department of Sanitation encourages you to reuse, recycle, repair, or donate items you may have thought about throwing out to help reduce the amount of garbage in NYC. Start here for an alphabetical listing of items you want to throw away, and what to do with it, beginning with "A" items such as appliances, autos, air conditioners, and continue down the alphabet.

Especially useful is this list of places to donate in or around New York. What can you donate? Eyeglasses, hearing aids, clothes, food, electronics, furniture, autos, computers, construction materials, office supplies, just about everything. It's a slightly greater effort to donate than to set something on the street corner, but consider that you may be helping someone see better, hear better, be warm on the streets of New York, or have a bed to sleep on. You'll also reduce the amount of garbage in New York City, of a greater reaching impact than you may presume.

Also, NYCDS has a hotline: "...try the NYC Stuff Exchange hotline (1-877-NYC-STUFF or 1-877-692-7883) to locate businesses or organizations in your area where you can donate, buy, or sell quality second-hand goods, and repair and rent goods instead of spending money on new items. The hotline is toll-free for callers within the City; outside callers may dial 212-509-4850."