GREENSBORO, N.C. — Out with the old and in with the new!
Time to roll up your sleeves because spring cleaning is in full effect.
A popular way to declutter is to donate items to non-profits like Goodwill. It's important to know—everything isn't suitable for donation.
Here are some do's, don’ts, and tricks to keep in mind as you organize your belongings.
Sara Butner with Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina recommends sorting items in piles of "to keep" and "to give away." It's a process she said is suitable for the entire family.
“Especially if you have kids,” Butner said. "Get them to help decide what things get donated even if it's toys or stuffed animals, and help them decide what to do with them. Whether they want to have a yard sale and help keep the money for something that they want to do or help decide what organization they want to donate to."
If families choose to donate items to non-profits like Goodwill, not all items are appropriate for donation. Butner said aerosol cans, hazardous liquids, and recalled consumer products can pose certain dangers to customers and Goodwill employees.
“If you're donating a lamp, for instance, take out the light bulbs because those can very easily break when they're in transit,” Butner said. “Take out batteries from older radios and small appliances because when batteries get older, they can leak and be very dangerous."
Though clothing, books, and antiques are popular items donated to the Goodwill, many electronics are accepted too.
“A lot of people don't realize they can donate computer equipment to Goodwill,” Butner said. “If you donate, for instance, a laptop or a hard drive, we clean those off based on the Department of Defense standards and refurbish laptops and computer parts. So, we resell those and people can buy either complete computers or even just parts of computers."
Whether you choose to donate a truckload of your belongings or just a few items, Butner said every donation helps fund their mission of helping get people back to work.
Click here for a full list of items accepted and not accepted at Goodwill.