You can accumulate a lot of junk if you’re staying in one place. Extra flower pots. Boxes of adapters. Old electronics that don’t work. New electronics that do work but you don’t use. Exercise equipment. Cookbooks. Super-specialized kitchen utensils. Clothes. Gifts you felt bad about getting rid of. Notebooks you’re definitely finally for sure going to fill with brilliant ideas very soon. This is fine when there are closets to shove it in, but when you’re ready to pare life down to a few bags and head off on adventures, how do you get rid of all that stuff without just adding more trash to landfill sites? For this Guide, I wanted to make sure I took the time and energy to find useful homes for as much of my stuff as possible. And key tip here: start early with rehoming your stuff. Charity pickups can book months in advance. And if you want to sell stuff, you need time to meet people. Below are links to places where you can donate furniture and electronics in Toronto (and clothes and furniture and your stuffed alpaca collection):
BOOKS
BMV Books – www.bmvbooks.com
Three locations in the city: uptown on Yonge by Eglinton, on Bloor near Spadina, and on Edward Street, just north of Yonge-Dundas Square. They’ll buy good books in good shape. You won’t know exactly which books they’ll want, so just take a bag of books in and they’ll take a look through them. You’ll get a few dollars per book. The more recent they are, the better.
Second Bind – www.secondbind.com
My favorite books were more well-worn, so I donated them on to Second Bind, along with a lot of the psychology textbooks I had. They’ll pick-up the books from you. This was key in my final weeks because I had boxes of books.
The Toronto Library Foundation – tplfoundation.ca/donate-books/
In the past, after reading a book, if I didn’t want to keep it, I would drop it off at the Toronto Reference Library for their foundation. The drop-off box is currently closed due to pandemic restrictions, but it’ll likely open again in the near future.
ELECTRONICS
Second Bind – www.secondbind.com
In addition to books, they’ll also take electronics AND they’ll pick them up. Second Bind whisked away my used electronics when they came to get my books.
Free Geeks – www.freegeektoronto.org/pick-up/schedule-an-e-waste-pickup/
A social enterprise that creates technical training opportunities by taking donations of old electronics and refurbishing them for sale.
KITCHEN & FURNITURE
Habitat for Humanity – habitatgta.ca
I wanted to donate all of my kitchen stuff to Habitat. I figured it would help somebody get their kitchen setup right away but they did not want my stuff. Their site does ask you if you’re donating things like kitchen cabinets. So I think they’re aiming more for the infrastructure, not the stuff that goes in the cabinets.
Furniture Bank – www.furniturebank.org/
They’ll pick up your furniture for a fee but once they’ve assessed what you donate, you’ll get a tax receipt for the donation.
I was too late to book Furniture Bank. I reached out to them a month before my move date and they were booked up until well after my move date. So get that lined-up early.
MATRESSES
Recyc-Matelas – www.recyc-matelas.com/
As you’re donating all of your stuff, and the pile of possessions is shrinking, one of the final things you’ll get rid of is your bed. But what do you do with that old (and oddly stained) mattress? Nobody is going to want it, and it’s big. Mattress recycling is a thing. The ones that can be refurbished get donated to charities, and the ones that don’t, get broken down into their component bits.