Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery and Recycling (RRR) Division is planning the city’s first ever citywide yard sale for October 23. It will be happening in the front yards of Santa Monica residents’ homes – and they will get to keep the sales proceeds.
“We’re looking at promoting re-use,” said Myesha Jones of the RRR Division. “We have so many residents here who have a lot of items that either end up in our alleys or are thrown away, that are still in good use. So we’re hoping that residents will take the opportunity to sell these items instead of having them find their way to the landfills.”
The sale will work in this way: Residents register online (see address below) and plan their own sales in their yards, gardens, patios, or other outdoor space. Residents of apartment houses or condos who do not have their own outdoor space can team up with neighbors who do have space. All cash collected can be kept by the sellers. The city will not benefit financially from the sales, but Jones notes that the benefit to Santa Monica will be that the City won’t have to pay for cleanup and disposal costs for discarded items left in alleys or on the street.
Items that Jones recommends for recycling (and that people are already listing when they register) include clothing, “especially children’s clothing,” furniture, toys, sporting equipment, and small objects like a fancy clock that “might not work but that someone else would want to collect or restore.”
Electronic devices that still work can be sold, but if an electronic device is at the end of its road, Jones said, “We do accept recyclable electronics at our transfer station (2411 Delaware Avenue).” Recycling of electronics is free for Santa Monica residents and all personal information will be removed from the devices.
Registrants will also be given a morning boost with free coffee and donuts (courtesy of sponsors Yum Yum Donuts and Peet’s Coffee), which they can obtain via coupons sent in the mail.
The sale hours will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. October 13 is the deadline for registering www.smgov.net/r3. Residents are free to advertise their individual sales but are asked to remember the City’s regulation regarding signs being placed on public property. Community groups, churches, and schools may participate.
The website will also be featuring a “Shopper’s Guide,” a catalogue of yard sale items, beginning on October 19. Also at the website will be a list of available recycling resources for people to use if they have any leftover items from their sales.
For more information visit http://www.smgov.net/departments/publicworks/recycling.aspx
