Spring cleaning tips: Out with the old, in with the new (to you)

Ready to shake off winter with a good spring cleaning?  

Clean out the old, bring in the new (to you)  

As you clean out closets and drawers, set aside items that are still in good, working condition. Instead of tossing them, donate them to a local nonprofit thrift store – and while you’re there, shop around for items you need.   

Donating high-quality items supports the community, and buying from non-profit-run thrift stores helps fund great local causes. 

Plus, you’re avoiding letting good stuff go to waste, which is great for the environment.  For every item that doesn’t have to be purchased new, you’ve saved the energy and natural resources needed to manufacture it – as well as the carbon emissions from extracting raw materials, processing them into new products, and transporting them to the stores where you buy them. 

Check ahead to see if it’s accepted 

Before taking your items to donate, check the organization's website to confirm what they currently accept: This can change depending on their inventory.  

Shop online  

Did you know many nonprofit thrift stores share their items online or through social media? Additionally, Facebook Marketplace has become a resource for affordable secondhand finds local to your area. Shopping secondhand has never been easier! 

Local spots to shop and donate  

• Community Warehouse shares great items from their Estate Store on Instagram. Or shop in person at their Northeast Portland or Tualatin stores. They accept donations of furniture, mattresses, small appliances, and other home goods.  

• ReClaim It shares items on social media - both Instagram and Facebook. Or visit them in person at their shop in North Portland (at North Williams and Killingsworth – not far from Community Warehouse, so check them both out). They accept donations of furniture, home goods, yard and garden items.  

• ReBuilding Center shows what they sell at their large store on North Mississippi Avenue in Portland. They accept donations of building materials and some home goods.  

• Habitat ReStore has an online store or head to their stores in Southeast Portland, Beaverton, Gresham, or Vancouver. They accept donations of building materials and home goods.  

• The Arc Thrift Store is located on Southeast Stark near 82nd Avenue and highlights items through Instagram. They accept donations of clothes and small household items.  

• SCRAP Creative Reuse has an online store or stop by their downtown Portland store. They accept donations of craft, art, and school supplies.  

• Free Geek offers refurbished laptops, tablets, and phones through their online store. They accept donations of computers, laptops, and other technology at their inner Southeast Portland location.  

Swap, share, and resell  

Check out the Resourceful PDX map to find more ways to save, from swapping unwanted items through a Buy Nothing Group, to getting reused and repaired furniture, household goods, and more.  

Partners activate reuse and resale shop in Old Town

Bullfrog’s Treasure N Trash has opened in Northwest Portland’s Old Town neighborhood. It’s a retail store where you can find antiques along with reclaimed furniture and other goods.

But it’s not just a store. It’s an innovative Reuse Hub focused on environmental justice and workforce development. It was created through a unique partnership between local businesses and nonprofits that facilitates low-barrier job opportunities in reuse, repair, and litter collection.

The organizations that came together to create Treasure N Trash are:

• Trash for Peace, a 10-year-old community-based organization providing hands-on learning, low-barrier job opportunities, and education about sustainability in environments that are peer-led, welcoming, safe, and collaborative. 

• Ground Score Association, a peer-led initiative of Trash for Peace. It celebrated its fourth anniversary in 2022. Ground Score is an association of informal recyclers, dumpster divers and other environmental workers who create and fill low-barrier waste management jobs. Ground Score is collectively organized and seeks to be radically inclusive, prioritizing work opportunities for those facing work and housing insecurity. They aim to build a more environmentally and socially aware community, while also changing society’s perceptions of what and who is considered valuable.

• Junk It Junk Removal, a local, family-owned company that began in 2012 and specializes in residential and commercial waste hauling.

• Frog & Toad Hauling celebrated its third anniversary in 2022. They specialize in waste-conscious junk removal, creative reuse, and home repair. 

These organizations moved into the Old Town warehouse in October 2022 and use the space for many things; a co-working office space, headquarters for Ground Score's peer-led litter collection and reuse/repair program, a meeting spot with a kitchen and lounge; and short-term storage for the two junk removal companies to sort and determine if repairs are needed before moving items to the thrift store.

Reuse has been a large part of both Junk It and Frog & Toad’s business models. Donation and diversion of materials are key elements in how they work with clients to remove unwanted items from homes and businesses. The warehouse provides the companies with a space to inspect and repair items that still have a lot of useful life left in them.

The owners of Frog & Toad, Revel and Sun, shared, “Our goal with the shared retail space is the establishment of a vibrant and useful place for our neighborhood and wider community where ‘stuff,’ which may have once been discarded, can flow towards where it will be treasured, which often is where it is needed the most. We feel that being in collaboration with the other groups in the warehouse is what will make this possible and help our store to thrive!”

Michelle Barrows-Carter from Junk It Junk Removal, said, "We are proud to be a part of a new warehouse space shared with Ground Score Association, Frog & Toad Hauling, and Trash for Peace, where we can prioritize sustainability and creative reuse.”

Low-barrier job opportunities

Trash for Peace partners with local government and other agencies to implement programs for renters in supportive, multifamily affordable housing communities. Based on community interest and initiative, some pilot projects clear unwanted large household items from apartments and homes, like dressers, tables, mattresses, and other furniture. Working alongside the junk removal companies allows thousands of pounds of trash to be diverted from the landfill by utilizing reused and donated materials in other activities that the organization leads.

Ground Score’s G.L.I.T.T.E.R program provides litter collection and tent side waste collection services for members of the houseless community across the Portland Metro Region. The program name was sourced by workers and stands for Ground Score Leading Inclusively Together Through Environmental Recovery. 

“It’s incredible to witness everyone’s unique progress. The sense of accomplishment bursting out of each participant when they finish their tote bag is so powerful! We provide a different type of purpose. You are worth the time it takes to learn a new skill.” - Rachel Linden

Many of the litter collection routes are serviced by electric trikes, as part of Ground Score's goal to create carbon neutral litter collection services. As this program is peer-led, most of the litter collection team are currently or formerly houseless. 

New programs taking place in the shared space

Two programs taking place at the shared warehouse offer a glimpse into other low-barrier opportunities with room for skill building and further growth.

Rachel Linden is an artist and founder of Thuja Studios, an independent design studio dedicated to the dissemination of utilitarian sewing education to marginalized communities across Portland. Rachel has extensive sewing production and teaching experience, and with the help of Molly Mattern, has started a sewing and mending education program for Ground Score workers.

The Sewing Department offers accessible, professional machine sewing education where members of the Ground Score community can gain competency and hands-on experience in the field of production sewing. Every participant is guided through the production process of a basic tote bag where they learn about strategic fabric selection, pattern reading, marking, and cutting out components, and sewing processes. Currently, the emerging sewing team focuses on the mass production of hand-mending sewing kits made from discarded fabrics that would otherwise be sent to the landfill. After being produced and filled with relevant, second-hand mending tools, these kits are then distributed back into the Ground Score community through professional, classroom-style, hand-mending workshops offered every other week with a $30 stipend offered to participants as extra incentive to learn.

“I’m in my element.” - Beck, a Ground Score employee

"Here at Ground Score, we're making space for folks to form community. Through jobs we help them reclaim the fruits of their labor stolen by poverty and houselessness." - Toma Solano

Another Ground Score manager, Toma Solano, previously trained houseless community members to design and build structures for several of Portland's tiny home villages while also contracting for private residential clients. At Ground Score, Toma helps provide low barrier jobs to houseless individuals as apprentice carpenters. Together they use donated and salvaged wood to repair and upcycle furniture. They also build trellises, lamps, bookshelves, and flower boxes.

If you would like to get involved or donate, visit the Trash for Peace website at www.trashforpeace.org.

If you would like to visit Bullfrog’s Trash N Treasure retail store, check out the website for current information, contact information, and social media handles.

ReDeploy serves Veterans through reuse and repair

G.I. Junk Removal, and its nonprofit arm ReDeploy, were created by Matthew Calhoun, a former member of the U.S. Army and the Oregon National Guard.

Matt started G.I. Junk Removal in 2018, just a few years after retiring from the military. Three years later, he created ReDeploy as a way to provide Veterans employment, furniture, and other goods.

Creating community and a second life for usable goods

At ReDeploy, Matt employs former military, including his father-in-law, Kevin Knerr, who is active on the board and with Veterans in Vancouver, Washington. ReDeploy is based in Oregon City, but they deliver goods throughout the Portland metro region through their mobile service.

Matt shared his vision of the organization: “Beyond the redistribution of usable secondhand goods from the junk removal service, ReDeploy will also become a place where Veterans can volunteer their time and skills to refurbish and fix up items destined to be donated to fellow Veterans in need. Also, our warehouse will become a place of camaraderie for Veterans to regain that sense of belonging to a group.”

G.I. Junk Removal and ReDeploy owner, Matt Calhoun.

ReDeploy donates directly to Veterans who are getting housed and can benefit from usable, donated household goods and furniture. Items such as couches, tables, chairs, dressers, nightstands, and beds. ReDeploy also donates to partners and other organizations that provide goods to those in need.

The G.I. Junk Removal crew is trained to offer a compassionate approach when working with customers and emptying spaces. They also know how to spot usable items for donation or resale. Furniture that may need a small fix before being donated can get a second chance because Kevin has a wood shop and repair skills.

In the future, Matt aims to build a workshop space within their warehouse for Veterans to fix and refurbish items on site.

Partnerships are key to success

Over the years, Matt has built relationships with social service agencies and nonprofit and community-based organizations, including many that serve Veterans. These include:

• A Caring Closet provides gently used durable medical equipment to those in need at no cost.

• Fort Kennedy provides essential food, clothing, and resources for homeless and low-income veterans and their families living in Oregon and Washington.

• LoveOne Community provides clean laundry, showers, meals, personal care resources, and community connections to those in need in Clackamas County.

• Tools 4 Troops collects and donates tools to Veterans and active-duty service men and women.

ReDeploy also received grant funds from Metro to help set up their warehouse with storage and tools for assessing, sorting, storing, and refurbishing salvaged items.

Contact ReDeploy through G.I. Junk Removal, to set up a donation pick up or clean out service.

A note about clean out companies   

Portland residents have many bulky item drop-off and pick-up options for recycling, donation, and disposal. This includes from many junk removal companies in the region, like G.I. Junk Removal. These businesses will clear out and clean up your unwanted stuff and haul it away for a fee. Do a web search for “junk removal Portland” to find other options. 

Customers are responsible for ensuring your materials are handled legally and taken to a facility. Ask for a receipt with the person or company's name, address, phone number and vehicle and driver's license numbers.  

Just moved? Get thrifty.

Whether you need a lamp for your bedroom, pots and pans for your kitchen, or extra chairs for when friends come over, you can find great deals at Portland’s many nonprofit thrift stores.  

In addition to saving money, you’ll be giving back to your community – your purchases fund great, local causes. 

Out with the old, in with the new (to you) 

As you unpack, you may find that items that fit well in your last place don't work in your new space. Instead of tossing them, donate them to a local nonprofit thrift store – and while you’re there, shop around for items you need to fill your new place.  

Shop online 

Did you know that many nonprofit thrift stores share their items online or through social media? So you can browse from your couch – or that empty spot on the floor that’s waiting for a couch.  

Local spots to shop and donate 

Community Warehouse shares great items from their Estate Store on Instagram. Or shop in person at their Northeast Portland or Tualatin stores. They accept donations of furniture, mattresses, small appliances, and other home goods. 

ReClaim It shares items on social media - both Instagram and Facebook. Or visit them in person at their shop in North Portland (at North Williams and Killingsworth – not far from Community Warehouse, so check them both out). They accept donations of furniture, home goods, yard and garden items. 

ReBuilding Center shows what they sell at their large store on North Mississippi Avenue in Portland. They accept donations of building materials and some home goods. 

Habitat ReStore has an online store or head to their stores in Southeast Portland, Beaverton, Gresham, or Vancouver. They accept donations of building materials and home goods. 

The Arc Thrift Store is located on Southeast Stark near 82nd Avenue and highlights items through Instagram. They accept donations of clothes and small household items. 

SCRAP Creative Reuse has an online store or stop by their downtown Portland store. They accept donations of craft, art, and school supplies. 

Free Geek offers refurbished laptops, tablets, and phones through their online store. They accept donations of computers, laptops, and other technology at their inner Southeast Portland location. 

Before taking your items to donate, check the organization's website to confirm what they currently accept: This can change depending on what their inventory is. Some organizations ask that you send photos in for pre-approval. 

Swap, share, and resell 

Check out the Resourceful PDX map to find more ways to save, from swapping unwanted items through a Buy Nothing Group, to getting reused and repaired furniture, household goods, and more.