Recycle

This section offers links to companies and non-profits who can help you recycle almost anything. Decreasing your environmental footprint has never been easier!

FIND LOCAL RECYCLING CENTERS

Looking for a way to recycle paper, metal, plastic, glass, broken electronics and even hazardous materials?  Click here to connect to Earth 911.

Now you can have your reusable items picked up in 30 major US markets. Special E is a unique green business that “rescues” items which are left over from weddings and special events, then recycles and re-purposes them in ways that help our planet and people in need. "The items we collect are re-directed to food banks, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, missions, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and a wide range of relief agencies and charitable organizations around the world."

DONATE LEFTOVER FOOD

Find a food bank in your area using the locator at Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest).  

Whatever you can't donate or send home with guests, compost! Click here to find a compost facility near you! 

DONATE YOUR FLOWERS

If you are in the Seattle area, Floranthropy will help you recycle flowers by picking them up from you event and delivering the re-purposed arrangements to Seattle area hospitals, senior homes, hospice centers, shelters and other facilities.  Donating your flowers is socially responsible way to reduce waste, and it’s tax deductible too!

FIND A LOCAL THRIFT STORE

Use The Thrift Shopper to locate thirft stores in your area. When you buy something used, nothing new has to be created, which decreases your environmental footprint.  Plus, all of the stores in this directory support charitable causes!

RECYCLE YOUR WEDDING GOWN

Recycle your genty used wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses, bridal accessories, wedding decorations and more. Sell everything from your wedding directly to other brides and be part of the bridal recycling chain! 

Eco-chic is in! Reuse and recycle your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, decorations, accessories and more with SmartBrideBoutique.com. Recoup 50% of your costs and help another smart bride create the wedding of her dreams on a realistic budget.

 

After your wedding, don't pack your dress away to become moth bait - recycle it!  Donate your gown to Brides Against Breast Cancer. 

If you need to have your gown cleaned before you donate it or resell it - see if you can find a green dry cleaner in your area.

 

RECYCLE YOUR BRIDESMAID DRESSES

If you are (or ever have been) a bridesmaid and are reading this and thinking, "yeah - I really am never going to wear that dress again," you can now give your gowns to a great cause! The following organizations accept once-worn gowns for under-privileged women. If you cannot find an organization in your state, you can always donate your gown to a local Salvation Army or Goodwill. 

California

         San Francisco: The Princess Project

Georgia

          Atlanta: The Enchanted Closet

Illinois

         Chicago: The Glass Slipper Project

Kentucky

          Erlanger: Cinderella's Closet of Northern Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

New York

         Albany: Dress for Success

         New York CIty: Operation Fairy Dust

         New York City: Gowns for Girls - LowerEastside Girls Club

         Upstate New York: The Cinderella Project

         Upstate New York: Fairy Godmothers of Greater Rochester

New Hampshire

         The Cinderella Project of New Hampshire

Ohio

         Cincinnati: Kenzie's Closet

Pennsylvania

         Inside the Dream

 

DONATE YOUR HAIR

Growing your hair out for your wedding? Cut it short for your honeymoon and donate your hair to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that "provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis." Min 10" and must be in a ponytail. 

Wigs for Kids has a 12" minimum and uses the locks to provide hair replacement to any eligible child who has lost hair as a result of chemotherapy and other diseases and treatments. 

Pantene Beautiful Lengths is another program that collects hair to make wigs for women cancer patients across the country. 

DONATE YOUR OLD GLASSES

Thinking of getting Lasik eye surgery for your wedding?  Or find a pair of old glasses while cleaning up for the big move?  Let those glasses help the poor, by donating them to New Eyes for the Needy. Collection facilities include Goodwill Industries stores, LensCrafters stores, and Lions Club drop boxes. Or, you can mail your old glasses in a padded envelope or box to:

New Eyes for the Needy
549 Millburn Avenue
P.O. Box 332
Short Hills, NJ 07078

RECYCLE OLD ELECTRONICS

Looking to raise a little extra cash for your wedding? Have some old electronics (that still work) lying around the the house?  Now you can do something good for the planet and your wallet with YouRenew.  They buy back electronics and send you a pre-paid shipping label!