Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. ReStore!

If you've visited one of our ReStore locations before, you probably know that we accept donations of new and gently used home improvement items, furniture, appliances, and more. Then we sell those items and use the revenue to fund Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's mission. ReStore supports an average of five homes annually! What you might not realize, however, is that ReStore’s commitment to sustainability goes far beyond donations.

First, when you donate to the ReStore you extend the life of an item and keep it out of a landfill. Each year, your donations prevent 5.9 million pounds of material from going to landfills. ReStore has invested in robust recycling efforts to continue to extend each item's usefulness as long as possible. Here are some of the ways ReStore recycles. 

Paint Recycling 

You can recycle paint at our ReStore locations through the PaintCare program in Minnesota. This program has been available to Minnesotans since 2016, funded with each new gallon purchased by consumers. You can bring up to five gallons of paint per day to our stores. Donated paint goes into the PaintCare program for recycling, often turning into new paint. Each year ReStore collects more than 10,000 gallons of paint for recycling in the metro area.

But that's not all. We also sell two brands of recycled paint: Amazon Select Paint and Recolor Paint. These paints are 99.6% recycled latex. Amazon Select Paint is locally produced in Fridley and is an interior and exterior product. Recolor is a women-owned business in Pennsylvania. They create several different types of paint: interior, exterior, semi-gloss, and chalk paint – Jan’s favorite for upcycling DIY projects.

Cardboard Recycling

Our ReStore locations go through their fair share of cardboard. In 2016, ReStore received recycling grants from Hennepin and Ramsey Counties that supported the purchase of a cardboard baler for each ReStore, enabling the stores to compress cardboard into bales for recycling. Not only does this process help the environment—it also generates additional revenue to support Twin Cities Habitat's mission. In total, our stores recycle an impressive 30 cubic yards of cardboard annually.

*Note: You cannot bring your cardboard recycling to the ReStore. Check out recycling resources here.

Metal Recycling

When recycling metal, there are two different types to look out for: ferrous and non-ferrous. ReStore can recycle both; they just need to be sorted. That's where the volunteer scrap crew comes in. This team of volunteers works diligently to sort through all the different types of metal.

"All they do is break down items," said Robin Henrichsen, Director of ReStores. "Volunteers sort out metals and break things apart to get to the valuable metals that can be recycled."

When the metals bin gets full, it's brought in to be recycled. The money from the metals recycling goes right back to the mission of Twin Cities Habitat.

A Recycling Dumpster

Even the dumpster company ReStore uses focuses on recycling. Atomic Recycling specializes in creative ways to recycle construction waste. They divert 75% of what goes into dumpsters from a landfill by using strong recycling practices. 

There's a culture of recycling at ReStore—and it's something the community has picked up on, from local businesses to professionals.

Melissa Wenzel, Built Environment Sustainability Administrator at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, works closely with organizations like ReStore to create solutions for a more sustainable future. For Melissa, reusing is impactful because many items have more life to give.

"Even though this is my day job, I think about this on a regular basis," she said. "It still blows my mind how impactful each purchase is."

If recycling is important to you, too, then you've come to the right place! Shop, donate, or volunteer at ReStore to join our mission and make a difference.