Spring cleaning? There’s a new place in Coquitlam to donate your household goods
Metro Vancouver wants to household goods to get a second chance on life
If you’re looking for a place to take unwanted household items, United Boulevard Recycling Centre now takes them as donations.
Late last year, Metro Vancouver partnered with Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver to pilot this project to encourage waste reduction. Now, residents can bring in both their recycling and donations at the same time.
Previously, the centre only had donation bins for clothing and books.
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Big Brothers has reuse experts available at the centre from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily that determine if what people bring in is reusable.
“People might not know if a material or item that they own is in good condition. They might not know if someone would actually want something. And so that’s why we have these reuse experts on site,” said Alec Wu, a project engineer for the Metro Vancouver Solid Waste Service Department who is managing this reuse program.
People can now bring in clothing, home and kitchen items, tech and electronics, and much more. Big Brothers has a detailed list available on their website, which you can find here.
Wu encourages people to take a look at the list — even if they don’t have plans to downsize.
“And potentially bring in more items from their homes that they weren’t thinking of getting rid of, but maybe if the items are better served for reuse for other people in the region.”
Metro Vancouver currently disposes of 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of garbage per person each year. In 2022, Metro Vancouver sent 305,000 tonnes to landfills or incinerators.
Since the reuse initiative started, thousands of kilograms of household goods have been reused instead of recycled or thrown out every month, according to Wu.
Once people drop off their goods, Big Brothers transports the material to their Coquitlam warehouse, before the materials are transferred to a distribution partner, such as Value Village.
They do not accept large items like furniture, building materials, and mattresses. If you have larger items, you can use this searchable online map to find the best place to recycle them. (For example, a reusable mattress could be taken to Keep It Green Recycling in Port Coquitlam).
