We’re back at it again with Reuse-a-Palooza at The Plant, a semiannual event that provides opportunities to repair clothing and household items, safely dispose tricky-to-recycle items, and donate bicycles, gently used books, and more, all the while bringing attention to strategies to reduce waste and improve environmental conditions.

We’ll be joined by an amazing group of waste-reduction and repurposing enthusiasts focusing on approaches to purchasing and consumption that make good sense economically, environmentally, and socially. Let us assist you in your quest to …

…. Reuse and responsibly recycle with Reduce Waste Chicago, EcoShip, EarthPaint, PCs for People, Working Bikes, PAWS Chicago, Envision Unlimited, Tinyshop, the Eco Flamingo, Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange, and Star Farm

….Repair your beloved but worn/broken household treasures at Community Glue’s repair clinic, or join in to Bliss Joy Bull’s mending meetup to learn some new hand-sewing tricks and DIY!

….Create something new out of “waste” with THUG Hippie and Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange, and with Star Farm’s pickling demos

….Discuss and discover with the City of Chicago’s Dept. of Streets & Sanitation, and Cook County MEDS, and we’ll be providing strategies to reduce waste throughout!

Plus, Bubbly Dynamics will be showcasing our in-house practices to refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle materials here at The Plant and at Bubbly. We will be offering a tour of The Plant at 2pm sharp — advance tickets are strongly suggested and may be purchased here. Stick around afterward to discuss your springtime resolutions in Whiner’s taproom — they’ll be open til 8pm.

An overview of the items to be accepted for donation / repurposing / recycling (and where they’ll go) is below. The current list of tricky-to-recycle items being collected by the rockstars at Reduce Waste Chicago is here (it’s been revised so please review in advance, and be prepared to take home any items that are not specified there or below).
- Alkaline batteries (Battery Solutions)*
- Bicycles, bike parts/accessories, and tire tubes (Working Bikes & Bikes N’ Roses)
- Books, gently used (Back of the Yards branch of the Chicago Public Library)
- Cork used to seal wine bottles (used for crafting)
- Computers and old technology, only as listed here (PCs for People)
- Crayons, any brand/condition (SCARCE, Crayon Initiative)
- Eyeglasses, usable; no sunglasses or cases (Lions Club, OneSight)
- Face masks, disposable, surgical (TerraCycle)
- Gym shoes past their useful life (GotSneakers)
- Jars, wide-mouth Ball or Kerr jars & lids (Tinyshop) OR pickle/jam/sauce jars with lids for the pickling demo
- Keys, metal only; no key chains (sold as scrap)
- Mailers, bubble or poly mailers (EcoShip)
- Office/school supplies, USED such as empty pens, mechanical pencils, markers, gluesticks, watercolor paint dispensers (TerraCycle)
- Paint, latex or oil-based/stains (EarthPaint; please see their fee schedule here) *
- Plastic cards - those annoying fake credit cards that come in the mail, old credit cards (cut-up!), gift cards (TerraCycle, or refuse those annoying plastic Comcast mailers by returning to sender; we’ll show you how)
- Plastic pots from Lush Cosmetics, black only (Tinyshop)
- School, office, and art supplies , new or gently used (Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange)
- Towels and sheets, to keep the sweet canines and felines cozy while they await their forever homes; pet supplies and food as listed on this wish list are also greatly appreciated (PAWS Chicago)
- Yarn, fabric scraps or rags, and clothing beyond repair to be used for crafting (Envision Unlimited)

*Small fees are requested or required to cover costs of recycling these items.

We also appreciate donations of the following new, in-package items to share with our neighbors:

- Food, fresh, unexpired food for humans and pets! (Love Fridge; see donation guidelines here)
- Personal care and household products, such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. (Back of the Yards branch of the Chicago Public Library, which houses a cart for folks to take what they need)

And since you’ve read this far, you’re clearly a waste-reduction enthusiast! Would you consider volunteering for the event to help everything get sorted properly? Please contact us!