Recycling for donations is great for the planet and for your cause, and acts a nice little bonus to any other fundraising you might do in your local community.

Support the planet while raising money by recycling for charity

Recycling is a simple way to raise extra funds for your charity, and a great way to get a school, workplace or local community involved. It’s usually best to recycle for donations on top of other fundraising ideas as it can be quite time consuming and often relies on the public’s own efforts. It takes someone in the habit of thinking about your charity to be in the habit of collecting and recycling for your cause as well.

How to recycle for charity

There are several ways that your charity can get involved in recycling for donations. While one involves running a recycling event for people to bring unwanted belongings to, others include getting involved in schemes for recycling specific items.

Table top sale

A table top sale where you ask people to donate unwanted items to sell can be a great one-off fundraising event or an add-on to something you’re already doing. You should start by advertising your recycling sale and asking people to bring in their items. Suggest categories, like bric-a-brac, household items, clothing and toys, and develop a pricing system for them.

You could make the charity event extra special by getting a well-known person (whether it’s a local celebrity or the boss of your workplace) to have their own stall. People will come and have a nosey- and hopefully purchase an item or two!

Recycling for charity at school

If you’ve already organised some sort of recycling for donations scheme at your local school, why not incorporate the idea of recycling into the curriculum? This could help urge students to not only get involved with preserving the planet but also in raising money for worthy causes.

6 Recycling schemes

If having an event is too much effort or not an option for you right now, why not get involved in one of the following recycling schemes:

1. Cans: Recycling your old cans is a great way to make some cash for charity. Think Cans has compiled a handy database where you can search for the closest place to you that will turn your cans to cash. You can probably get 40p-50p per kilo, although the price does vary. You could also try contacting your local council to see where your local service might be.
2. Clothes/Textiles: Many people take old clothing directly to charity shops but there are several companies that will collect for you. Rags to Riches is very popular for schools seeking donations or wanting to fundraise for a charity, and they promise a 100% efficient service as well as 50p per kilo.
3. Ink Cartridges: Most ink cartridges are able to be recycled, and there are some companies that collect them in exchange for cash which you can then donate to your cause. Recycle for Charity have raised over £1m for great causes and offer a range of services, including recycling ink cartridges.
4. Hair: This may seem like a wild idea but donating hair after a trip to the hairdressers is something that Cancer Research appeals for on behalf of other cancer charities. Your unwanted hair will then be used to create natural looking wigs for cancer patients who have lost their own hair.
5. Mobile Phones: With people updating to the latest phone models every year or so, most of us will have an old mobile lying around. Instead of it collecting dust, why not recycle it and then donate the money you earn from it to charity? Many companies buy used mobile phones, and Compare and Recycle can help you find the best deals.
6. Stamps: Citadel Stamps is a company that collects used stamps to recycle. They pay charities £7.50 for every kilo of stamps you send them, and accept any postage stamp from around the world. They also have a fundraising account on eBay where they’ll sell rare stamps, donating 90% of the proceeds to charity.

Recycling for charity success stories

Many charities and organisations have had great success with recycling for donations schemes. Here you can take a look at a great story from a primary school in Stourbridge that managed to raise hundreds of pounds during their October recycling month.

St James C.E. Primary School collected unwanted items and either sold them in a jumble sale or made use of businesses like musicMagpie (for CDS and DVDs) and Bag2School (for leftover items). They also appealed to the local community for unwanted bikes which they sold on their behalf, taking a 20% fee which then went to charity.

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