Goodwill No Longer Accepting CRTs

Sectorseven

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At least my local one isn't.

I guess it costs them more to dispose of them than they can make.

Scratch them off your list of tube sources.
 
I love it when an organization looking for DONATIONS limits what they will take. I say STFU and be happy that people are willing to donate to you organization.
 
They said that 6 months ago here, just wait until the local customers start complaining they never have TVs, and they'll be back.
 
they'll take 'em in Washington State because of a local program that allows them to dispose of the broken and unsold units at no cost. before the program started up a few years ago there was a significant period where most thrift stores would not accept them.
 
I love it when an organization looking for DONATIONS limits what they will take. I say STFU and be happy that people are willing to donate to you organization.

They may be an NPO, but they're still an entity in a capitalist economy, and to that end, they MUST run a net profit to continue to exist. I worked at Goodwill for a few days short of a year, we trialled TVs in our store, it lasted all of about two months. They just didn't move in significant volume and we took substantial losses on it. (you have to pay money to legally dispose of those things!)

And don't get me started on the old people showing up with giant boxes of nothing but plastic grocery bags.
 
I love it when an organization looking for DONATIONS limits what they will take. I say STFU and be happy that people are willing to donate to you organization.

It's the regulations for Hazardous waste, CRT's were reclassified and can no longer be thrown away.
Goodwill cannot simply toss a bad TV in the dumpster that was donated....

While I don't like that a good source is gone, I understand why they stopped.
If anything, get mad at the dumbass lawmakers that keep making these laws without understanding their impact.
So now MORE TV's are going to get tossed rather than recycled through Goodwill and other thrift stores.
Hell, look at how they stopped accepting toys too...
Lead laws make them liable if they resell a donated toy from China that is found later to have lead paint or whatever...

Another example: They had to stop selling kids motorcycles because the target users were under a given age.
Why: Because the metal in the motorcycle contained enough lead to trigger the lead laws for "kids toys".

Go figure....
Kinda like the Congressman talking about the acceptable pH of water discharges,
then having another member exclaim "Why are we letting industry get away with 7.0 pH, they should have to get it to ZERO!!"

ROFL, as I always say, the meaning of Politician: (Poli = Many) (tic = Bloodsucker or leach).... so, Politician = Many Leaches."
 
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I keep hearing about how you can't throw away TV's...

...is that a LOCAL regulation? State?

I ask because here in Idaho I can "legally" throw a CRT television in the trash up to 19". I asked the trash guy why the 19" limit and he said it was due to the weight. I asked if I could lug out a couple of 25"-27" tubes, etc and he said "Yeah, no problem" and I proceeded to do just that. I told him I heard I couldn't shit-can CRT monitors and he said we could because our dump uses "Lye" or something?!? I wasn't 100% clear on what he said or what it meant. I simply liked the fact I I could leave my monitors for the trash guy.

I've thrown away at least a half dozen tubes thus far.
 
Funny how the organizations that gladly accept donations so they can profit from them quickly turn away donations too. Doesn't quite make sense but Goodwill, along with Salvation Army (at least in my city) have become so picky about what they accept that's its almost worth it just to toss leftover garage sale items rather than try to save them for someone. Thankfully, there are other organizations that will come by and pick up donations...

I say F the organizations that start poo poo'ing donations that don't fit their 'needs'. There are plenty others that will appreciate them.
 
It's a fine line. Goodwill definitely gets used as a free dump by some people, but I've also had the donations gatekeeper try to cherry pick my donations and getting pissed when it is "take it all or nothing".

Honestly, outside of TV enthusiasts, Arcade collectors and classic console game collectors...who is buying CRT's? Flatscreen prices appear to be coming down to what affordable CRT's were in the 90's, so even if your view of Goodwill is it should be a source of affordable second hand goods, I can see it not being worth the shelf realestate to compete. These things are going the way of the vacuum tube stereo amplifiers. In 10 years, people will gawk at your machines because they have a CRT in them...and that you're dedicating an entire wooden coffin to something they can play on their brain implanted telephone device.
 
Its a state regulation here in NJ. Its not just TVs in NJ.. its all electronics but
TVs are not easily hidden in a garbage bag:)

http://www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/ewaste/index.html

The county dumps dont even accept them. They need to be taken to a
private electronics recycler who actually charges you to get rid of them.

Some towns have drop offs where they collect them all up and deal with
it. Others like mine have a scheduled drop off location twice a year.

I'm sure you guys will get a law like this sooner or later.



I keep hearing about how you can't throw away TV's...

...is that a LOCAL regulation? State?

I ask because here in Idaho I can "legally" throw a CRT television in the trash up to 19". I asked the trash guy why the 19" limit and he said it was due to the weight. I asked if I could lug out a couple of 25"-27" tubes, etc and he said "Yeah, no problem" and I proceeded to do just that. I told him I heard I couldn't shit-can CRT monitors and he said we could because our dump uses "Lye" or something?!? I wasn't 100% clear on what he said or what it meant. I simply liked the fact I I could leave my monitors for the trash guy.

I've thrown away at least a half dozen tubes thus far.
 
Check with your local schools.

They sometimes contract with a recycling company for shcool fundraisers.

Our local school had a recycling day and collected 33 pallets worth of electronics.

The company recycles the electronics for FREE too - no charge to you!
 
I just dropped off a bunch of stuff (a few of my items they refused due to "safety issues) and they had a number of crt tvs sitting in the back room.
 
It's possible this is just at the discretion of your local Goodwill. However, I would imagine they will eventually all be adhering to this policy over the next couple years.
 
I love it when an organization looking for DONATIONS limits what they will take. I say STFU and be happy that people are willing to donate to you organization.

Goodwill is especially bad about this, and what pisses me off about them is that they mark up the prices as if they were retail. Non profit my ass! Mine down here has stockpiled christmas stuff all year and now has it out at a premium price. No wonder they are being picky on donations, they need the space for seasonal merchandise.

Salvation army is WAY more appreciative of donations and they don't put ridiculous price tags on it either.
 
I think the over priced items have a lot to do with the simple fact that the people working there just don't know what things are worth. I can usually find an item under priced for each one that's over priced. However, every time I go in there the old merchandise is gone, so someone thinks their prices are fair.
 
Good will over pricing stuff.. heh

The local goodwill in bordentown, NJ has TVs but they want 20-40 each.

The Unique store (thrift store) sells them for $3-$6 each. Guess where I
buy mine:)
 
Don't blame the thrift stores for not accepting certain items, blame the over-regulation / lawsuit chasing, opportunist that caused the rules creation in the first place. The thrift stores are just following the rules thrust upon them.

We have two thrift stores in my town, one is staffed mostly by work-release or court ordered community service people- they're so rude I quit taking stuff there, I mean over-the-top nasty. The other store seems genuinely thankful to accept anything, so I go there to drop off items now.

It's a win-win, you clear out the stuff you don't need, and someone in need get's it at a discount while also funding a charitable organization. Items stay out of the landfill, two economies are created, along with a tax write-off, pretty much perfect in my book.
 
Goodwill's prices are high because they're a big, high-visibility chain that attracts a lot more people than your average mom-and-pop thrift store. As a result, they can charge significantly more and still move items readily. Take it as you will, it's just business.

Funny how the organizations that gladly accept donations so they can profit from them quickly turn away donations too. Doesn't quite make sense but Goodwill, along with Salvation Army (at least in my city) have become so picky about what they accept that's its almost worth it just to toss leftover garage sale items rather than try to save them for someone. Thankfully, there are other organizations that will come by and pick up donations...

I say F the organizations that start poo poo'ing donations that don't fit their 'needs'. There are plenty others that will appreciate them.

Goodwill doesn't throw out rejected clothing. One of the things they tell you in orientation is that clothing they reject is boxed up and handed off to a different NPO (I forget exactly which, something about clothing the homeless). True to form, clothing not fit for sale went in its own designated crate which would get loaded onto a truck when it got full.

So no, they don't throw away anything they can find a use for. TVs aren't really in demand among aid groups though, so what CAN they do with them?

I just dropped off a bunch of stuff (a few of my items they refused due to "safety issues) and they had a number of crt tvs sitting in the back room.

People routinely drop shit off outside the door when the store is closed and nobody's there to accept donations. You can put up signs all you want but people still do it. When you open in the morning and you've got several big TVs sitting on your front step, long dead because they've been soaked in the rain, what do you do with them?
 
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Wonder what Salvation Army is dong these days? I've not been to one in awhile.

And some people do use them as a place to dump your shit! I have a friend that does that and mainly on Sunday night when he can dump and run. WTH! He needs to ask himself if he would not take it, why do you think it's OK for someone else?

And I believe the main reason places wont take everything you give them is for like this reason of disposal, or reasons like the items don't sell, or they have tons of them already.

I had takend some brand new dishes to Salvation Army once, my wife got them as a gift and than months later changed her mind, Salvatin Army did not take them. I though it was really odd but then stopped and thought, they must have tons of this kind of stuff. So I sold them on CL.
 
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