Sometimes we need to get rid of electronics or appliances due to upgrading and other times due to their demise. I recently have had the worst luck with electronics/appliances. I mean terrible luck. In the course of a week, the washer stopped working, the garage door stopped operating, and my Instant Pot (that I use 3-5 times a week) died.
If you have an old electronic or appliance that is not re-usable (we will get to that in a second!), then the City of Napa and Napa Recycling has a FREE curbside pick up program for you (capitalization used because most people read past the “free” and ask me how much at the end when talking about this program).
The Recycle More program offers a free curbside pickup of electronic waste, appliances, oversized metals (that cannot fit into your recycling cart), bagged clothing & shoes, batteries (when coupled with a previously listed item) and cooking oil — scheduling required!
Sound too good to be true? You can read all about it here: https://naparecycling.com/recycle-more/ and schedule your appointment.
If you’d prefer to haul your own stuff, you can self-haul electronics or appliances or oversized metals to the City of Napa Recycling & Composting facility, free of charge. There is even a drop-off at the Devlin Road Buy Back Center for electronics — the world is your oyster!
If you recently upgraded and the item is still usable, considering donating it through common donation stores like Goodwill, post on NextDoor, or use the platform FreeCycles Napa. There are tons of free resources to give your item continued life after you are done with it. A new Buy Nothing Napa group has been created recently as well for a specific neighborhood (Vintage area), so check them out if you live in that part of town. Buy Nothing Groups pass items on to provide continued (or new life), while creating a community inside our Napa community.
Remember in the hierarchy of what to do: Reduce. Re-use (donate it to someone else!), and then Recycle.
Now if you have items that don’t fit the above description, like tables/dressers/chairs, those qualify as bulky items. Bulky items can be picked up, but there is a fee associated with it, which is determined by the number of items you have. More information here: https://naparecycling.com/residents/bulky-item-pickup/. One not-so-secret is the Bulky Item Coupon all Napa Recycling customers received awhile back that expires at the end of this month. I just used mine, so don’t forget about that if you have the ability to self-haul and have some bulky items that are no longer of use.
But don’t forget — if it is still useable, see if there is someone in the community who would enjoy the new-to-them item. Resources listed above.
Happy Reducing, Re-using, or Recycling!