Beyond your curb

These items can be recycled, with a little extra effort. Don't throw them away.

ELECTRONICS

Examples: TV sets, computers, stereo gear.

Reason: They often contain not only valuable metals, glass and plastics that can be recovered, but also toxic metals and substances that don't belong in landfills.

Solutions: Check with your local government. Many communities have spring and fall cleanup events to collect unwanted electronic items for little or no fee.

Independent recyclers of electronics include Asset Recovery Corp. in St. Paul and Waste Management's Ecycling, which has drop sites statewide. You'll pay a disposal fee.

You may also donate computers in good working order to Goodwill/Easter Seals. They accept the central processing unit (CPU) of Pentium-grade computers, as well as their keyboards and printers. Monitors and TVs are not accepted. Donors receive a receipt for tax-deduction purposes.

For more information, go to www.moea.state.mn.us/plugin/recyclers-househld.cfm.

Remember: Household cathode ray tubes, TVs and computer monitors are banned from Minnesota landfills as of July 1.

UNWANTED CLOTHING AND SHOES

Solutions: Wipers Recycling LLC in St. Paul Park will take any unwanted clothing or shoes. Usable items are donated; the rest is sorted and sent to other markets for processing. For example, wool goes to Italy, cotton becomes wiping rags and other materials become part of a patent-pending absorbent material for mopping up oil spills.

Shoes are collected and sent abroad. Wipers Recycling sent nearly 11,000 pounds of winter boots and slippers to orphanages in Russia last year.

For more information, go to www.wipersplus.com or call 651-222-7247.

U'SAgain accepts unwanted textiles such as clothing. About 80 percent of it is re-used as clothing. The rest is recycled into insulation material, wiping rags, etc.

For more information, call 612-789-0672, or go to www.usagain.com.

Some cities offer curbside pickup of unwanted textiles. For example, in St. Paul, Lauderdale, Falcon Heights and Minnetrista, unwanted clothing and linens are picked up on recycling days.

PLASTIC BAGS

Solution: Use them again on shopping trips or take them, including the bags used on home-delivered newspapers, to stores that collect them, including Cub, Byerly's, Lunds, Wal-Mart and Kohl's stores. They are sent to a company in the state of Virginia that turns them into plastic lumber for decking. A recent study found newspaper bags to be the most commonly recycled.

STEEL

Examples: Grills, lawn mowers, appliances large and small.

Solutions: Call United Way First Call for Help at 211 for places near you that accept donations of items in good working order.

Gas grills and other steel objects not containing motors can go to scrap metal dealers. (Check the yellow pages.)

Some scrap metal dealers will take lawn mowers, snow blowers and weed whackers for a fee. Fuels and oil, and sometimes tires, must be removed.

Call your county for information on how to dispose of appliances, or go to www.greenguardian.com, or www.moea.state.mn.us/market/markets/index.cfm.

YARD AND FOOD WASTE

Solutions: Compost enriches garden soils. Make compost from leaves, wood chips, grass and garden debris.

Most kitchen wastes, such as vegetable peelings, fruit rinds and peels, eggshells and coffee grounds, can be composted. However, some cities prohibit using garden waste in compost piles.

In any case, do not use meat scraps, eggs, oils or fats, cheese, bones, used pet litter, animal or human feces. Use only garden debris from healthy plants and weeds not yet gone to seed.

Karen Youso is at kyouso@startribune.com.