HELENA — The spring is a great time to get rid of old clothing, furniture, and items you no longer need or use.
Spring cleaning allows you to get your home in order and even provide some secondhand items to your neighbors.
“Everything that we do goes back to the community. And so, if you want your items to be used for such a wonderful cause this is the place to do it,” says Good Samaritan Thrift Store manager Michelle Hughes.
The Good Samaritan Thrift Store is always taking donations of clothes, furniture, and other such items.
Hughes asks that all donations be in good condition free of rips, tears, stains, or breaks. There are certain things they won’t take.
Smaller items can be brought through the back in boxes. Larger furniture can be brought through the front door for inspection.
City of Helena Sustainability and Recycling Coordinator Miranda Griffis encourages people to properly utilize the transfer station’s services.
“We do have regulations of what can be dumped and what can't be. So, if you do dump something in your residential trash can and then it gets taken out to the landfill that, you know, it can cause problems later on down the road,” says Griffis.
They have an area in which they take trees, grass clippings, and leaves. These are eventually turned into compost and sold back to the community.
The transfer station also has an area for various aluminum, plastics, tin, cardboard, and more.
They ask that folks wait to throw away hazardous waste such as cooking oil, mercury, bleach, and oil-based paint until their household hazardous waste event which is typically held once a year in the fall.
Not disposing of trash or recycling in the correct areas can have dangerous consequences.
“A big one is lithium batteries. So, if you do — so, if you take your battery out of your computer and then you just throw it away out at the landfill, the workers run them over with the heavy equipment, and they start landfill fires. So, that's very dangerous,” says Griffis.
So, this spring, enjoy creating your new space, but do so with care and make sure to dispose of your old things properly.
