Saratoga Recycles Day: October 7, 2023

9 am until 12 pm

Sponsored by Sustainable Saratoga

Located at the SPAC Parking Lot, west side of Route 50

Recycles day volunteers

Repurpose unwanted household items. Protect the environment. Help the community.

We are excited to host our seventh annual Saratoga Recycles Day this October. This popular community event is planned and run by Sustainable Saratoga’s amazing volunteers, and we thank them for their dedication to this effort, which keeps tons of items out of the landfill every year.

Start saving your unwanted items for us!

GENERAL INFORMATION:

  • Event will be located at the SPAC Parking Lot, west side of Route 50
  • There will be a $5 entrance fee per vehicle (cash or check only) for RECYCLES DAY, plus $30 fee per TV or monitor.
  • Please bring exact change or a check

 

WE ARE COLLECTING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ON OCTOBER 7:

Please sort your items according to the drop-off stations listed below.

Eyeglasses & Hearing Aids for the Saratoga Lions Club: sunglasses & eyeglasses (prescription or nonprescription), hearing aids in any condition. NO cases please.

Cell Phones with Chargers for Wellspring (they need the chargers too)

Musical Instruments for We Are Instrumental (any condition): Woodwind and brass instruments: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, saxophones, trumpets french horns, trombones, baritones and tubas. String instruments: violins, violas, cellos, basses. Any condition. No pianos or drum sets.

Saratoga Children’s Literacy League: Gently used children’s and young adult books. No religious or holiday books.

Camping Equipment (useable) for RISE Housing and Support Services: including tents, stoves, backpacks, sleeping bags and pads

Clothing & Household Textiles for American Clothing Company (any condition): clothes, coats, shoes, belts, hats, gloves, sleeping bags, backpacks, sheets, quilts, comforters, towels, rags, etc. NO pillows, carpeting, or rugs with rubber backing.

Metal Objects and Refrigerants by JGS Recycling: basketball hoops, grills, unusable bikes, metal lawn care equipment, etc. for scrap metal recycling and refrigerators, dehumidifiers, and AC units

Electronics & Appliances by eLot Electronic Recycling, Inc.: televisions, monitors, microwaves, toasters, blenders, coffee machines, hot plates, cable or satellite receivers, audio/visual equipment, phones, computers & accessories, printers, VCRs, DVD players, video game systems, wiring & cables, etc. NO smoke detectors, thermostats, or batteries.

WE CANNOT ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

Batteries

Pillows

Carpeting

Rugs with rubber backing

Thermostats

Smoke detectors

Fluorescent light bulbs

Toxic/hazardous materials

Paint (paint will only be accepted at Paint Collection Day on October 21)

Recycles Day Map

 

OTHER WAYS TO RESPONSIBLY DISPOSE OF MATERIALS

Got household hazardous waste? For residents of the City of Saratoga Springs, the City typically holds a Household Hazardous Waste Day every two years; the last event was held in October of 2021. You can call 518-587-3550, ext. 2623 for more information about future events.

Got tires? The Saratoga County Soil & Water Conservation District typically holds a tire recycling event every spring and fall. These events are open to Saratoga County residents and registration in advance is required.

Click here to see our online Reuse, Repair, Recycle directory of local donation, recycling, and repair options.

Saratoga Recycles Day Frequently Asked Questions:

We’re collecting the following items:

  • Clothing & Household Textiles (any condition): clothes, coats, shoes, belts, hats, gloves, sleeping bags, blankets, backpacks, sheets, quilts, comforters, towels, rags, etc. NO pillows, carpeting, or rugs with rubber backing.
  • Eyeglasses, Sunglasses & Hearing Aids
  • Cell Phones with Chargers
  • Adult Bicycles & 20- and 24-inch mountain bikes (no helmets; no other kids’ bikes)
  • Musical Instruments (any condition): Woodwind and brass instruments: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, saxophones, trumpets french horns, trombones, baritones and tubas. String instruments: violins, violas, cellos, basses. Any condition. No pianos or drum sets.
  • Electronics & Appliances: Microwaves, toasters, blenders, coffee machines, hot plates, cable or satellite receivers, audio/visual equipment, phones, computers & accessories, printers, VCRs, DVD players, video game systems, wiring & cables, etc. NO smoke detectors, batteries or thermostats. 
  • TVs & Monitors: We WILL be accepting TVs and monitors this year, for an additional $30 fee. 
  • Metal Objects: basketball hoops, grills, metal lawn care equipment, etc. for scrap metal recycling (no large appliances)

YES, PLEASE! To keep traffic flowing and minimize physical contact between people and with materials, please sort your item by the major collection stations. There will be “stations” set up in the parking lot:

  1. Saratoga Springs Lions Club – eyeglasses, sunglasses and hearing aids (no cases);
  2. Wellspring – cell phones with chargers;
  3. We Are Instrumental – musical instruments
  4. B.E.S.T. (Backstretch) – men’s work clothes, including jeans, work boots, hoodies, jackets, rain jackets, backpacks, blankets;
  5. Domestic Violence Project of Warren & Washington Counties – clean, new or gently used backpacks, grocery bags, tote bags, children’s clothes size 2t to 10/12
  6. American Clothing Company – any clothing items and textiles;
  7. Bikeatoga – adult bicycles, 20- and 24-inch mountain bikes; and
  8. Electronics, appliances, and metal objects. Note that TVs & monitors are an additional $30 each, limit 4 per vehicle.

As you enter the parking lot, a greeter will direct you to the appropriate station(s), and then volunteers will unload your vehicle at each station. PLEASE STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE Please group your items by station to facilitate unloading, but you do NOT need to sort items further. For example, you can drop off a bag that contains wearable clothing, shoes, sheets and towels. To keep traffic flowing, our partners and volunteers will handle additional sorting after the event.

  • It’s convenient. We’ll take your items that usually don’t get recycled, in any condition, with no sorting required. You won’t even get out of your car!
  • Recycling is good for the environment and human health. We produce more than 254 million tons of trash every year in the U.S., which gets dumped in over 2,000 landfills that are leaking toxins into the surrounding environment and producing the greenhouse gas methane. Not to mention transporting trash creates pollution. No one wants that in their backyard!
  • Your unwanted items still have value. Unwanted items like clothing, shoes and backpacks will be donated to local organizations who distribute these items to people in need. Appliances and electronics contain valuable components that require energy to mine and manufacture; recycling them conserves our natural resources and avoids pollution, while helping private companies source materials sustainably.
  • You’ll be contributing to programs that make our community more environmentally-conscious and sustainable. All funds raised will support our local initiatives, like our Tree Toga tree planting events, our backyard composting program, our advocacy work for affordable housing, and more!

We want to recycle electronics that are at the end of their useful life.

  • If you have working electronics, please look for places where you can donate them. Consider selling them on an online website or listing them as “free & it works” on the curb or post it on Freecycle.org, Buy Nothing or NextDoor.
  • If you have a broken electronic that you think could be repaired, save it for our next Repair Cafe at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. We will have handy repair people who can take a look and try to fix it.
  • If it is broken beyond repair, then please bring it to Saratoga Recycles Day and we will make sure that it gets recycled by eLot Electronic Recycling, Inc.

We are collecting TVs and monitors again this year. In the last two years, we have collected over 1000 TVs and monitors, so we know this fits a need in our community and we want to be able to offer this service. However, TVs and monitors are costly to recycle, and the cost to our organization increases every year. eLot Electronics Recycling, Inc. is willing to collect and recycle these items at a cost, by weight, to Sustainable Saratoga. We are a non-profit organization that depends almost exclusively on generous donations from the community, so we need to offset this cost. 

Sustainable Saratoga pays for the electronic items that are brought in for recycling. We have a nominal charge to offset this cost, but that model only works for households. If we accept materials from businesses, it also slows down the traffic flow and overburdens the people collecting materials.

Please check in with us ahead of time if you are unsure about whether your item is acceptable. If we cannot accept an item, you will be responsible for taking it with you. We will provide you with any information we can about alternative ways for you to recycle/repurpose any items we cannot accept.

We are working with several local organizations and businesses to reuse/recycle donated items:

  • Clothing & Textiles: Some clothing donations will go directly to the Prospect Center’s children & family programs serving Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties; men’s work clothes, including jeans, hoodies, work boots, rain jackets, jackets, blankets, and backpacks will be donated to B.E.S.T. to benefit backstretch workers at the Saratoga racetrack. Children’s clothing, backpacks and reusable bags will be donated to the Domestic Violence Shelter of Warren & Washington Counties. All other clothing and textiles will be processed by the American Clothing Company (Glens Falls, NY) and redistributed globally for reuse. Textiles can be repurposed into products like dog bed filling or rug pads.
  • Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids: Items will be donated to the Saratoga Springs Lions Club.
  • Cell phones with Chargers: Donated phones will be used by Wellspring.
  • Musical instruments will be used repaired and given new life by We Are Instrumental.
  • Appliances, Electronics and Scrap Metal: Donated items will be recycled/repurposed by eLot Electronics Recycling, Inc.
  • Adult Bicycles: Bikes in decent condition will be refurbished by Bikeatoga. Any unrepairable bikes will be recycled as scrap metal.

No! Anyone is welcome to donate items, there are no residency restrictions.

We’ll be collecting items rain or shine! We’ll have volunteers helping to unload vehicles, so you can stay dry even if it’s raining.