These Tucson nonprofits can help with year-end recycling, reusing

In fact, the Freecycle Network (https://www.freecycle.org/), a nonprofit dedicated to helping people give and get stuff for free, is gearing up for its busiest day of the year.

“Every year, our busiest day is January 2. Everyone gets through the holidays and they say, ‘I got my new sweater and I’m getting rid of the old … it’s kind of like Boxing Day in England, when people box up their old stuff after Christmas to get rid of it,” said Deron Beal, founder and CEO of Freecycle, which he established locally in 2003.

Since then, the grassroots effort has grown to more than 11 million members with 5,000 groups in more than 100 countries. Tucson alone boasts more than 15,000 members; Marana, Vail, Green Valley, Sahuarita, Benson, Nogales and Rio Rico also offer groups. Beal said the platform offers anything and everything that people might find in closets, yards, sheds, homes and garages including computers and electronics, musical instruments, supplies for crafts and hobbies, sporting equipment and much more.

The site also offers smaller Friend Circles so that people can lend and borrow from neighbors and others they know.

“They say the average usage time for a drill is 15 minutes. No one really needs a drill: They just need a hole in the wall, so you can lend and borrow tools from friends and neighbors and it is very convenient. The website even sends out automatic reminders to return items so you don’t have to bother your neighbor about it,” said Beal.

Most people, however, utilize the site to regift and give new life to items they no longer want or to get items that they need, according to Beal.

“When inflation was going crazy, people were really using Freecycle and pinching pennies instead of spending exorbitant amounts on things. And environmentally, we have so many challenges that if there is a fun way to do something that is better for the planet, then why not?” he said.

Caring for the planet is also a priority for Tucson Clean & Beautiful, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and improving the environment, conserving natural resources, and enhancing quality of life in Tucson and Pima County.

TCB partners with the City of Tucson Environmental and General Services on projects such as TreeCycle (https://www.tucsonaz.gov/treecycle), which offers free recycling of Christmas trees at ten different sites in Tucson, Vail and Oro Valley through Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.

“The program encourages the community to dispose of their trees in a sustainable way. The trees will be turned into mulch — we use some of this mulch for our tree planting programs — which is much better than the trees just going into the landfill,” said Jaime Cabrales, sustainability leader for Tucson Clean & Beautiful.

Cabrales also encourages Tucsonans to check into FoodCycle at Home (https://www.tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Environmental-and-General-Services/FoodCycle/FoodCycle-At-Home). FoodCycle At Home offers residents the opportunity to divert food from landfills by food scraps to be added to the compost mix at the Los Reales Sustainability Campus.

The City of Tucson Environmental and General Services offers FoodCycle workshops to teach the public about composting, complete with a free composting bin/pail. Participants can fill their pails with fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells, grains and bread, and then drop the compost at sites citywide year-round.

“There are sites throughout the city where you can go dump your compost and they reuse it. When food goes into landfills, it is like Christmas trees. In large amounts, food and plant materials release tons of methane gas, which is not good for the environment,” said Cabrales.

The next FoodCycle workshop will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Reid Park Zoo, 3400 E. Zoo Ct.; registration is available online at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/1840c61dfb164a5d9f9c7c77385cf56f.

The Reid Park Zoo is also partnering with Recyco Inc. in an effort to recycle broken, used and non-working strings of Christmas lights, which can’t be placed in recycling bins since wiring destroys the machinery. Working and non-working Christmas lights can be dropped off at the Reid Park Zoo and at Recyco, located at 5851 E. 22nd St. and at 650 E. 22nd St.

Since 2021, the program has recycled more than 1,800 pounds of holiday lights; almost two-thirds of that has been recycled this year alone.

“The lights contain precious copper wire that can now be recycled instead of being buried in a landfill. The biggest cost of copper is mining the ore, and recycling saves 85 to 90 of energy,” said Vanessa Gallego, chief operating officer of Recyco.

The locally-owned and operated company is dedicated to making recycling an empowering opportunity while educating the community — especially youth — and supporting the City of Tucson and other local organization in sustainability efforts.

Another popular seasonal item for recycling through Recyco is metal-based artificial Christmas trees; year-round, the company also recycles a wide range of items from aluminum cans and plastic beverage bottles to copper (tubing, wiring, and insulated wire) and steel (anything that sticks to a magnet, including appliances and tin cans are accepted at 650 E. 22nd St.). Stainless steel, brass, radiators, and much more are also accepted; all materials need to be separated prior to recycling and the comprehensive list can be viewed at https://www. recycoinc.com/material.

Gallego said that December has always been a busy month, and that more and more people are discovering the possibilities that recycling presents.

“We have customers who cash in recyclables for gifts for their families, donations to local organizations, or to do good will on their own. I think now more than ever our community is realizing the opportunities that recycling can bring,” Gallego said.