The following is a list of places that I have either recycled at or plan to in the future in Portland, Oregon. If you have any suggestions, feel free to send me an email and I will add them. I would also love to have places that accept mail-in recycling on the list. This list is continually developing.
Large Variety Recyclers:
12820 NE Marx Street
Portland, Oregon 97230
Portland, Oregon 97230
4629 SE 17th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97202
Portland, Oregon 97202
For locations in Hillsboro, Beaverton, N Portland, NW Portland, Lake Oswego, or Spokane, visit their website.
Far West offers the typical recycling such as paper, glass, and plastic, but they also offer an array of recycling options that I find useful and interesting (quoted items are directly from the website):
· Paper – not much to explain here. They do recycle old books, but I ask you to please donate your books to a used bookstore or other thrift store, it saddens me as a writer to see works of art go unappreciated.
· Metal – Now I’m not so familiar with what kind of metal you can recycle curbside besides cans, so here’s a full list: Tin cans, copper, aluminum, and steel
· Glass – again, pretty self-explanatory.
· Plastic – Rigid plastic (“Non-necked shaped bottled plastic #1 thru #7 includes nursery pots, tubs, buckets, trays, plastic toys, and hard plastics.”), bottles, milk jugs, plastic bags and film, media plastic (“CDs, DVDs, tape cases, jewel cases, VHS tapes, and cassette tapes are accepted with rigid plastic in small volume. If you have a large volume please contact the office closest to you.”).
· Electronics – televisions, DVD players, computers, etc.
· White appliances
· Footwear
· Cellphones
· Rechargeable batteries
· Microwaves
· Apparel
· Carpet Pad
· Wood waste
· Cooking Oil
· Crayons – This is my favorite item they offer services for. I have TONS of crayons that I have kept for years not knowing what to do with them. Good boxes I have given away, but the leftovers just sit around.
Clothing/Thrift stores:
Bearly Worn
4908 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97206
Portland, OR 97206
I absolutely love this store. This is where I try to get all of my clothing. The clothes are cheap, and even if you have to sort through loads of dud and ugly clothing, you can stumble across amazing finds. The store also works closely with homeless and low-income families. They accept donations of not only clothes but quality items that families could use (furniture, etc.).
Goodwill
Everyone knows Goodwill. However, I read somewhere that they ship excess clothing overseas which depletes local economies there. So I keep this as a last resort.
Used book stores:
Nothing beats Powell’s. No Portlander would ever deny that. It is as much a part of our culture as coffee and rain. However, the downside of Powell’s is that they are super skimpy when it comes to selling your books. I tried once to sell here and failed miserably. Yet, I couldn’t not put this on the list.
Dakota Books
30 NW 2nd St, Gresham, OR 97030
Even if it is a bit out of the way, I love coming to this bookstore. They have a great system of book trading that I find to be a much better deal than trying to sell at Powell's. The staff is friendly and if they're not family-run, it at least feels like it is.
Electronics:
Free Geek
1731 SE 10th Ave
The difference between Free Geek and other recyclers that accept electronics is that Free Geek also provides a service to people because of electronic donations. Their mission statement says it all "Free Geek’s mission is to recycle technology and provide access to computers, the internet, education and job skills in exchange for community service."
Electronics:
Free Geek
1731 SE 10th Ave
The difference between Free Geek and other recyclers that accept electronics is that Free Geek also provides a service to people because of electronic donations. Their mission statement says it all "Free Geek’s mission is to recycle technology and provide access to computers, the internet, education and job skills in exchange for community service."
