I know this may sound gross but it is innocent - can you donate opened toiletries to shelters? I have many shampoos, conditioners, hair sprays, gels, nail polishes, etc, that I use a few times and don't like. I hate to throw them out as they are brand new and full. But I know donation bins will not take opened products, and I completely understand why. But it still seems like such a waste... Do you know if shelters accept this type of stuff? Or what do you do with this kind of stuff that you don't want to go to waste?
I would give it to friends, that's what I do or a friend that can pass them onto a teenager or someone else. You can't donate them for health and safety reasons and there are some sad people that put poison in things so they can't take that risk.
Yes I know it's very sad that people would do that in this world, but I understand so it's a wise policy. I just a read a thread about companies sterilizing and reselling used makeup, so I wondered too if there is some way to know toiletries are safe. Also I can think of so many girls who have an overload of toiletries they don't use (mainly hair products). I just hate throwing out useful things but where I live right now I have no one I know to give them to
Maybe put an ad on freecycle or give them to a neighbor or the local church? My parents work in a goodwill shop and they have to throw out many things for this reason. There is no harm in asking, but I worked on a retreat and people would leave their toiletries for others to use so many some would?
I read on a zero waste site that you can list your gently used toiletries on Free cycle or the free section of Craigslist and someone will be happy to take them off your hands.
I know that you intend to donate them, but there are people that are willing to buy them too, based from what I see on Ebay. So try your luck too in selling those items. Sell them really cheap to dispose of them quickly. Like what they say, one man's thrash is another person's treasure.
One of the resale shops where my mother in law used to live has a certain day when the needy can come in and pick up a grocery bag full of dried goods or things that people donate. Sometimes people will donate those kind of items too. Another thing I have seen is on craigslist people have offered these type items for free, but I have never went to pick any of them up. I did see how the resale shop worked though and I thought it was a very effective system.
Shelters should accept opened unused toiletries but they may refuse to take them due to the fact that they don't know if anything has been added. You could always go to a shelter and give them over to a tenant. Or even put an ad on a local free stuff group on facebook and give it to a needy person. People on benefits cannot afford such items so I am sure that it would always be appreciated.
I don't take them to the donation bins, I instead give them to my siblings. Luckily I have young siblings and cousins who love collecting these items. They can either give them to their friends or use them to play. However, to avoid having too many of these stuff, I make sure I know what am looking for and also make sure I have adequate information on the available products.
This is extremely late but it might help someone else reading this. The best thing is to give it out directly. Like a direct donation. You can also give it to friend who lacks.
