What we cannot take
A short list, and none of it is personal. Each one comes down to either safety or the fact that nobody will buy it.
Please keep these out of the boxes
- VHS tapes. There is no resale market left for them. Most curbside programs will not take them either.
- Mass-market paperbacks. The small rack-size ones, about 4 by 7 inches, the kind sold in grocery store spinners.
- Anything moldy, musty or water damaged. One contaminated box can spoil an entire pallet, so this one is strict.
- Anything with insects or insect damage. Same reason.
- Encyclopedia sets. Nobody buys them, and they are heavy.
- Reader's Digest Condensed Books. The abridged hardcover volumes with the decorative spines.
- Magazines and newspapers. Including National Geographic, which people ask about constantly.
- Books with heavy writing, highlighting or missing pages. Light pencil is fine. Wall-to-wall highlighter is not.
- Cracked or badly scratched discs, and empty cases. A case with no disc has no value to anyone.
What to do with them instead
| Item | Better option |
|---|---|
| VHS tapes | Most curbside recycling will not take them either. A few thrift stores still will. Otherwise they go in household trash. |
| Mass-market paperbacks | Little Free Libraries, a doctor's waiting room, a senior center, or curbside paper recycling. |
| Moldy or water damaged books | Bag them and bin them. Do not put them in with the good ones, and do not put them in paper recycling. |
| Encyclopedia sets | Craft groups and schools sometimes want them for art projects. Otherwise, paper recycling. |
| Magazines and newspapers | Curbside paper recycling takes these easily. |
| Heavily marked textbooks | Paper recycling. Pull out any plastic covers first. |
Why mold is the strict one
Mold spreads. A single musty box sitting on a pallet next to good stock will spoil what it touches, and once it takes hold in a office it is expensive to get rid of. If you have any doubt, keep the questionable box separate and mention it when we arrive. We would much rather look and say yes than have to turn a whole load away.
If you are not sure, ask before you throw anything out
People bin things all the time that we would have happily taken. Old textbooks, ex-library copies, loose discs and cassette tapes are the usual casualties. A photo to help@maxxmultimedia.org settles it in a minute.