The Landfill Is Problematic For Box Springs Disposal
Landfills do not appreciate taking box springs and mattresses because they take up so much space. Furthermore, the springs youll be dropping off tend to get wrapped around landfill equipment like compactors and cause breakage. Steel springs tend to not be compressible.
The environmental consequences of dumping box springs
Even worse, the box springs, like mattresses, typically contain harmful compounds, including flame retardant chemicals. Flame retardant chemicals are increasingly viewed as unnecessary and dangerous to human health by experts.
It is best to keep these chemicals out of the landfills as they eventually make their way into the environment and even into the food supply.
. Check out our mattress disposal guide for the right ways to recycle a mattress and box springs.
How To Dispose Of A Mattress
While shopping for a new mattress can be frustrating, every mattress owner inevitably reaches the point where its clear that its time to level up. Some people decide to switch out their mattress because theyre interested in a new model or mattress type, and some people seek out a new mattress because their comfort requirements have changed over time, because of factors like age, losing or gaining weight, and/or injuries. However, even someone who isnt particularly interested in other mattresses will need to replace their mattress eventually.
There are a number of different ways to get rid of a used mattress, from recycling to donation to throwing it away. The method thats right for you depends on a number of different factors, especially the state of the mattress, where you are located, and which facilities are close by offering which types of disposal and donation services.
Well break down the different methods of mattress disposal, how to choose the right one for you, and how to go about getting the disposal job done.
Where Can I Get A Free Mattress
If you find yourself personally in need of a free mattress, then we hope this article will also prove useful to you. All of the charities, thrift stores, organizations, and online websites listed above facilitate accepting mattress donations. This, in turn, means they also help pair the donated goods with less fortunate people.
Contact a charity that you believe helps people in your specific situation. You can also begin searching for free mattresses on Craigslist, etc. until you find what you need.
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Use The Furniture Bank Association To Donate Your Mattress
A furniture bank is another nonprofit organization that operates across the United States. Unlike Goodwill or the Salvation Army, the Furniture Bank Association does not function under one unifying name. Instead, it consists of several small organizations that serve their local communities.
These furniture banks collect your old beds and box springs and donate them to families who are often referred to them by schools or state agencies. Most do offer mattress removal services too, though they may require a minimum donation when you schedule a time to pick up the furniture. If you wish to do a drop-off instead, take the furniture to the location listed on the website.
Do Charities Take Care Of Mattress Recycling
Some charities opt to recycle mattresses that they cant donate to those in need. But not all have the capabilities for recycling or even storing beds. If your bed is in good condition, charities like homeless shelters or thrift stores may accept it. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Furniture Banks of North America take mattresses, too.
But if you need mattress removal because of issues that make the mattress unusablelike bed bugsthen a charitable organization will not accept it. There are pick-up services like Earth 911 and that dispose of mattresses via recycling centers.
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Donate To A Pet Rescue Center
Most pet rescue centers or animal shelters accept old mattress donations. They use the mattresses as beds for animals they have rescued. You can call local animal shelters to find out whether they need mattresses for animals awaiting adoption. Some animal shelters may require you to professionally clean the mattress before donation.
What Do I Do With My Old Mattress
Mattresses play a significant role in ensuring that you get a good nights sleep. Whether you sleep on a memory foam mattress, innerspring mattress, or any other mattress type, you may need to replace it after a few years, especially if it no longer gives you the comfort you need. When you get tired of sleeping on an old mattress and decide to buy a new one to increase your sleep quality, you have to decide what to do with the old mattress.
Most mattress retailers will offer to dispose of your old mattress when they deliver the new one, but the problem is that more often than not, the mattress will end up in a landfill with several other mattresses. You will also come across private companies that offer to dispose of your old mattress at a fee.
There are more creative ways of disposing of your mattresses and box springs without harming the environment. Note that over 20 million Americans dispose of mattresses every year, and most of them end up in landfills.
If you are at a loss on what to do with your old mattress, read on. We have a few ideas that you can consider instead of crippling the environment with waste.
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Can Old Mattresses Be Recycled
Yes, mattresses can be recycled and the practice is fairly common. Through mattress recycling, approximately 80-90% of the mattress can be reused. Thats quite a lot of material that can be reused and turned into new products!
What parts of a mattress can be recycled?
Steel springs, wood frames, stuffing, and fabric are all contained in a mattress and can be recycled and reused in different ways. However, mattresses cant simply be left out for pickup with your regular recycling. Youll often need to find a facility that specializes in mattress recycling, and youll need to transport it there on your own.
Why is recycling a mattress is good for the environment?
When you decide to recycle your old mattress, you help reduce the amount of waste that ends up in your local landfill. Many parts of the mattress need to be recycled, as they take decades to decompose if they end up in a landfill.
Donate Your Used Mattress To Charity
Check with your local non-profits to see if any will be able to put the mattress to use. Depending on health department regulations in your area, organizations like The Salvation Army and Goodwill might be able to take a used mattress off your hands. Habitat for Humanity, churches, and homeless shelters can also be good places to check. Once youve secured a place that will take your old mattress, book a Dolly to bring your mattress to its new home.
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Which Donation Centers Accept Used Mattresses
When it comes to places that will accept a gently used mattress, your best options include the National Furniture Bank Association, along with your local religious centers and shelters. You may have to get in contact with them and ask if they will accept a mattress thats still in good condition. Even if they do accept used mattresses, they likely will have guidelines about the mattresss condition.
So How Do You Know If Your Mattress Is In Good Enough Shape To Be Donated
Every charity, organization, and shelter has its own standards for what is acceptable for a donated mattress. However, there are a few standard guidelines:
Odors: Though people can sometimes be noseblind to odors in their own home, a particularly strong odor on a mattress should be noticeable to you. When in doubt, call in a third party, preferably one who you do not live with, to do a sniff test. If you find that the mattress has a slight odor, you can try sprinkling a layer of baking soda on the surface and letting it sit for a few hours. Afterward, vacuum off the baking soda, and then, if possible, let the mattress air outside. If the odor remains, you should reconsider donating the mattress.
In general, figuring out if your mattress is up to donation standards is a matter of common sense.
Make sure the mattress is structurally sound, clean, and free of any infestations or odors. The mattress is not going to help anyone if it cannot be used. Think about whether or not you would want to receive your mattress as a donation. If not, then consider other options.
If you feel that your bed is in good shape for donation, then thats great! You can move on to selecting the right place to donate.
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Places To Donate Your Old Mattress
7 Places to Donate Your Old Mattress
Sometimes a mattress has done its due diligence and it is past time for a new one, but throwing it away just seems like a waste. Fear not! There are plenty of useful ways to dispose of that old mattress, leaving you guilt free and with plenty of space for that brand-new mattress youve been eyeing.
1. National Furniture Bank Association
The National Furniture Bank Association is a non-profit organization that partners with numerous furniture banks to give out pieces of furniture for little or no cost. It works through referrals from schools, churches, and other agencies to deliver pieces of furniture to those who desperately need them. There are many people who need mattresses to sleep on, and your donation would go a long way to help them out.
2. Religious Charities
Religious charities provide material necessities including food, clothes, and even your old mattress to help those in desperate need. Donations to such local charities in your community would go a long way to make their mission effective.
3. Mattress Removal Service
4. Give to a Friend
You might know someone who is great at DIY projects, or maybe a friend that can repurpose your mattress padding into a dog bed. Check with your social circle or even try posting on social media — just in case anyone is need of a used mattress.
5. Donate
6. Recycle
How Can I Tell If My Mattress Is Donatable
If your mattress is not in good condition, it cannot be donated. Charities will likely reject mattresses that are broken, at the end of their lifespan, heavily stained, or infested with some kind of pestlike bed bugs or dust mites. Take a look at your mattress, checking for rips, sagging, holes, mold, pests, and other serious problems. If it has any of these issues, its better to recycle or repurpose it rather than donating.
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Will Charities Accept Beds And Mattresses Of Any Size
Youll need to check with the charity first, but many organizations will accept your donated bed and mattress of any size. Donate a hospital bed. Donate a baby or crib mattress. Donate an inflatable mattress. Donate a single or twin bed. Donate a full bed. Donate a queen bed. Donate a king or California king bed. Please ensure that your bed and mattress are in good condition. Please do not donate broken, stained, or unsanitary beds and mattresses. And please take care to tell the charity whether the items were in a home with pets or smokers, as people in fragile health can be extremely sensitive to pet hair and cigarette smoke.
What Companies Can Pick Up A Mattress
Charitable organizations, recycling organizations, and junk hauling services are all options that often offer home pickup of used mattresses. These services may include a fee, although charities usually do pickups for free, particularly if youre donating a large amount of furniture. If you cant have an organization come out and pick up your old mattress, you may need to consider renting a truck for transportation.
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Habitat For Humanity International
HFHI is an international organization that works to offer affordable and sustainable accommodation for people worldwide. The people the HFHI help have a pressing need for somewhere to live and for affordable household furniture and other items, most of us take for granted.
Your old mattress could make a massive difference to the living standards of a mother and her young children. They may not use your actual mattress, but it could be sold by HFHI to provide the finance to allow that family the luxury of sleeping on a comfortable surface rather than on a floor. If you donate your mattress to Habitat for Humanity International it will be sold in a ReStore center. Contact your nearest ReStore home improvement facility and it may pick up your mattress. If not, you can drop it off yourself.
Can I Recycle My Broken Down Mattress Rather Than Throwing It Away
Sure. There are several recycling programs that can help you get rid of your mattress if you dont want to leave it at the dump. Check out places like Earth 911, , and the International Sleep Products Association for information on local recycling centers near you.
If a recycling facility cant take your whole mattress, that facility might still accept the components if you cut the mattress apart and separate them yourself. For instance, many recycling centers take steel springs as scrap metal, and wood from box springs and mattresses can be ground into mulch by a wood repurposing program.
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Return The Mattress To The Manufacturer
If youre purchasing a new mattress to replace the one you want to get rid of, ask the retailer if you can take your old one and return it to the manufacturer. With an estimated 50,000 mattresses being disposed of each day in the United States, many manufacturers are taking on the task of mattress recycling themselves.
The Precious Parts In A Mattress:
Mattresses are made up of precious materials that can be re-used for other purposes. According to Scientific American, a standard mattress is comprised of steel, cotton, wood and polyurethane foam.
Proper mattress recycling helps cuts down waste, resources, energy use, and costs because its materials can be used to make new products.
A city similar in size to Toronto is estimated to throw out a quarter million mattresses and box springs a year according to The Globe & Mail thats a lot of precious materials gone to waste.
These are the materials in your mattress and how they can be re-used when recycled properly:
Metal: A mattress frame and springs are often made of metal, which can be re-used for a variety of products. When a mattress is brought to a recycling plant, this material is sent to a scrap metal recycling facility where it is melted down to get re-used.
Steel: According to Better Homes and Gardens, a mattress can contain anywhere between 300 to 600 steel coils depending on its size. The bigger and better quality the mattress, the more steel it will have. Like metal, steel can be melted down and re-used.
Fabric: The fabric encasing a mattress can be processed to use in mats and other interior materials.
Wool & Cotton: Mattresses are full of stuffing, which is commonly made up of wool and cotton. These materials can be processed and used as yarn when properly recycled. It can also be used to make insulation and felt.
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How Do I Know When To Get A New Mattress
There are several signs that it’s time to get a new mattress. These include:
Sleeping on an old mattress could have long term effects on your health, so its important to address the issue as soon as possible.
What About A Sagging Mattress
If you have a sagging mattress, sometimes the problem can be the mattress foundation. By placing a board over your existing mattress foundation, this can make your mattress perform better and reduce the sagging issue.
You can pick these up at Lowes or Home Depot and have them cut the wood/board to size for you. I would recommend cutting the wood at least an inch shorter both width and length-wise so that you don’t have any wood protrusions. If this doesn’t work, purchasing a new mattress foundation could extend the life of your mattress and improve its comfort quality. If it’s a foam mattress , you’ll need a solid, uniform bottom foundation.
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Option : Donate To Charity
After evaluating the condition of your old mattress and you find that it is still in usable condition, you might want to consider donating your used mattress to someone in need. If you were planning to just get rid of it anyway, why not do a good deed and let the mattress finish out its lifespan in good use. There are many charitable organizations that would be happy to receive a lightly used mattress such as homeless shelters and domestic violence centers. You could donate your unwanted bed to help a family that has lost everything in a fire, earthquake, hurricane, or other natural disasters. You can rest easy knowing your former bed is helping someone less fortunate have a good nights sleep. Learn what organizations accept mattresses and in what conditions.
