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Reuse Guide

This directory provides options for disposing of items no longer useful to you.  Check out the listing, and see who can make good use of your household items, electronic equipment, and more!

If you have any creative ideas to add, or if you believe the information is out-of-date, please contact the City's Recycling Coordinator, Tina Klein at (978) 446-7277 or recycle@lowellma.gov.

Book, hard and soft cover Girls, Inc. would like story books and chapter books in good condition.  Call for more information:  (978) 458-6529 Ext 20
Thrift Shop at Pawtucket Congregational Church
15 Mammoth Road, (978) 452-2144
1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, 9am - 2 pm
Afrihope International, Inc.   (617) 957-1613   www.afrihopeinc.org

Please call or e-mail at afrihope@aol.com to arrange for pickup or drop-off and to see if item is acceptable.
Cards
      Holiday/Greeting
Saint Jude's Ranch www.stjudesranch.org
For the past 25 years Saint Jude's Ranch, a non-profit youth home for abused and abandoned children, has operated a holiday/greeting card reuse program.  The ranch provides counseling for troubled youth.  Children operate a business taking used greeting cards, neatly cutting off the front cover, and gluing the cover to new card stock.  These new cards are then sold to raise funds and the children earn money, experience, and a sense of purpose.

You can send either the entire card, or cards with the backs cut off.  Send bundles of cards via UPS ground or the "library rate" at the US Post Office.

St. Jude's Card Recycling
100 St. Jude Street
Bolder City, NV  89005-1618
Carpets/rugs Salvation Army, 150 Appleton Street, Lowell.  (978) 458-3396.   Area rugs only; they must be vacuumed, rolled and tied; no rips tears, holes, stains, or fraying.  Pick up is available, call to schedule:  (781) 231-0803
Salvation Army, 625 Main Street, Wilmington.  (978) 988-9488.
Lazarus House accepts carpet and rugs.  22 Union Street, Lawrence.  Phone: (978) 557-5449.  Call to schedule pickup, and be aware that during busy times they may be scheduling two weeks out. 
Cell Phones 

                  

Most public schools participate in the Cartridges for Kids program which accepts cell phones, pagers, toner cartriges and ink jet cartriges as a fundraising program for the school.
Clothing, wearable

                    

              

              

       

 

                           

 

St. Vincent dePaul, 701 Merrimack Street, Lowell  (978) 453-7750
My Fathers House, 83 Middlesex Street, Chelmsford   (978) 251-8191
SUITABILITY, 319 Central Street, Lowell   (978) 934-8898
Women's work-appropriate clothing.   Suitability provides clothing for women coming off welfare returning to the work force.  Call before going. 
Thrift Shop at Pawtucket Congregational Church
15 Mammoth Road, (978) 452-2144
1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, 9am - 2 pm
Clothing, unwearable                  St. Vincent dePaul, 701 Merrimack Street, Lowell (978) 453-7750  Unwearable clothing should be separated and clearly marked as rags.  The material is bundled and sold to a company that makes products such as padding used to absorb oil around industrial machinery.  Oil soaked padding is then used as a fuel source!  Rags can also be made into moving blankets.  So...even if they are not wearable, those clothes still have a lot of life left in them!!
Computer Equipment

Afrihope International, Inc.   (617) 957-1613   www.afrihopeinc.org

Items accepted:  PC computers, Pentium I and up, color monitors, cables, keyboards, mice, software, technical books, printers, scanners and speakers.

Please call or e-mail at afrihope@aol.com to arrange for pickup or drop-off and to see if item is acceptable.
Share the Technology.   www.sharethetechnology.org

This online service matches donors with those looking for equipment.  Once on the website, go to the computer donation database.

Items accepted:  Mac Power PCs/Pentium PCs or better, Working color monitors without screen burn or other damage, hardware, inkjet and laser printers, scanners, digitizing pads, modems (33.6 minimum), keyboards, mice, memory, hard drives and CR drives, software.
Eye Glasses

Don't throw your old eye glasses away!  These locations will recycle any eye glasses through the Lions Club or other methods.
Lowell Assoc for the Blind, 174 Central St, Lowell   (978) 454-5704
Drs Montminy Inc, 75 Arcand Drive, Lowell  (978) 459-0702
Lowell Optical Co Inc, 11 Central Street, Lowell  (978) 452-9302
Merrimack Eye Clinic, 1230 Bridge Street, Lowell  (978) 452-2100
Furniture

St. Vincent dePaul, 701 Merrimack Street, (978) 453-7750, can take furniture, small appliances, and large appliances that are less than 5-years old.  If the furniture has been disassembled, they will need all hardware (screws, nuts, etc.) For three or more large items, pick-up service is available by calling 1-800-675-2882.
Hangers Most dry cleaners will take these back, and Thrift shops often need them.  Here are just a few options:
Alpine Cleaners, 1691 Middlesex St, Lowell  (978) 453-0261
Antons Cleaners, 1200 Bridge Street, Lowell  (978) 459-3195
Antons Cleaners, 346 Broadway Street, Lowell (978) 459-9369
Antons Cleaners, 25 Wood Street, Lowell  (978) 452-8164
Kenny's Cleaners, 637 Middlesex Street, Lowell  (978) 452-3901
Inkjet and Laser Printer Cartridges The City of Lowell, in partnership with Keep Lowell Beautiful, collects these items as part of a fundraising and recycling project.  Money raised goes to recycling initiatives.  Click here for more information.
Kitchen Items      Thrift Shop at Pawtucket Congregational Church
15 Mammoth Road, (978) 452-2144
1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, 9am - 2 pm
Linens Old sheets, blankets and towels:  Animal hospitals and the MSPCA will gratefully take these items
Humane Society of Lowell, 951 Broadway Street, Lowell    (978) 452-7781
Metal scrap You may be able to get paid for your scrap metal... check it out!
BHS, Inc, 17 Rock Street, (978) 454-0311
Accepts non-ferrous metals only:  Brass, copper, aluminum, etc.
Levine Max & Co, 270 Tanner Street, (978) 454-7786
7:30 am to 4:40 pm Monday through Friday
Accepts ferrous and non-ferrous metals
Paint Theater groups often need paint for creating their stage sets.
Paper, computer Any paper from a photocopy machine or laser printer that is printed only on one side, can be fed back through your home printer when new (blank on both sides) paper is not required.  Header sheets are particularly useful for this purpose...bring them home from the office!  Also, try cutting up partially used sheets of paper to make a scratch pad, holding the sheets together with a binder clip.
Plastic bags Some grocery stores take them back.  Here are just a few options:
Hannaford, 199 Plain Street, Lowell  (978) 441-6900
Market Basket, 1235 Bridge St, Lowell  (978) 454-0361
Market Basket, 11 Wood St, Lowell  (978) 458-8015
Better yet... don't bring home any plastic bags!!  Keep a canvas bag in the trunk, stuffed with five or six other canvas bags.  Always use these at the grocery store, unless you're going to ask for paper bags to hold your paper recycling, which is about 1 in 5 trips to the store!!
Plastic containers Curbside recycling will accept #1, #2 and #6 plastic containers, but just because they're not recyclable doesn't mean they have to be trash!  Here are a couple ideas:
Soup kitchens frequently need these containers for sending food home with people, and for shut-ins. 
Check with your local schools and art programs.  Art teachers love these containers.
Propane Tanks Drop off at the DPW Yard, 1365 Middlesex Street, 7:30am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday.  Tanks can also be taken to Spring and Fall Household Hazardous Waste Day.
Styrofoam popcorn and packing peanuts Most MAILBOXES, Etc. will take your clean packing material.  Here are just a few locations which do, and also check with your local store. 
MailBoxes, Etc., 119 Drum Hill Road, Chelmsford (978)454-4700
MailBoxes, Etc., 174 Littleton Road, Westford (978) 692-1110
Styrofoam trays Art teachers love these!  Wash with soap and very hot water
Wood scraps Pro Bark, 39 Turnpike Road, Ipswich, MA  01938
Phone: (978) 356-4770
They can take any scrap wood which is not painted as this material is used as a fuel source and emission standards are picky about burning paint!  Nails, spikes, hinges are okay.  Remove any metal that is larger than a hinge.
Dept Contact Info

Department Head
Gunther Wellenstein
Gunther Wellenstein
Recycling Coordinator
Solid Waste Manager

Location:
Health Dept
341 Pine St
Lowell, MA  01851

Phone:
(978) 970-4010
                    ext 9-4309

(978) 970-4011, fax

Email:
recycle@lowellma.gov


Office Hours:
9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.,
Monday - Friday

Contact Info

defaultUser.gif
Stephen Stowell
Administrator
(978) 446-7200 x 1443, voice
sstowell@lowellma.gov
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Kim Zunino
Assistant Administrator
(978) 446-7200 x 1444, voice
kzunino@lowellma.gov


Fax :
(978) 970-4262

Location:
JFK Civic Center
50 Arcand Drive
Lowell, MA 01852

Office Hours:
9:00 A.M.  - 5:00 P.M.,
Monday - Friday