Spring cleaning

I was cleaning out my room the other day, finally kicking all my mom's decades old and never-again-should-see-the-light-of-day clothing out of my closet. That's the trouble with leaving home and then moving back in - when I was gone, my room became the forgotten land for everything that my family didn't really want/need but might eventually have a use for one hopeful day down the road. And because I was only ever back for short visits, I didn't care about all the junk piling up in the corners of my room and in my closet. Living out of a suitcase really isn't that bad.

But when it finally sank in that this time I'll be getting a job and living at home for a while, I realized it was time to put down some roots, and stop living out of a suitcase. And yes, it took five months for that to sink in. Did I mention I'm a slow learner?

Anyway, at the end of the process, I ended up with two huge garbage bags worth of clothes, some old spectacles as well as an old CRT monitor and TV to get rid of. So I started researching recycling options.

1. Old spectacles

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Malaysia has a spectacle recycling program. The first thing that popped up when I Googled it was Enviroman's blog article. Apparently the program has been running for some time since the post was dated February 2007. Called Give the Gift of Sight, the program is collaboratively run by the Lion's Club and the MBPJ. For a list of collection centers, please visit Enviroman's blog.

2. The usuals - paper, plastic, glass, aluminium etc.

Alam flora, one of the country's biggest rubbish collection companies, runs a recycling program for all the usual suspects. Check out their website for more information on collection centers. The coolest part is that they actually pay you for all your recyclable waste. They also take old CRT monitors and other electronics, but you won't be paid for those.

3. Old Clothes
I found out the the PJ Community Center in Section 17 takes all sorts of old junk and then gives it away to charity. We loaded all the old clothes in the car and took a drive there but it was closed. Haven't figured out when the opening hours are yet, but hopefully that'll happen soon.

4. Old Furniture
I've also got some old, but serviceable furniture that I want to get rid of so when I saw the Seri Sinar truck driving around, it was a gift from the gods. Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar takes recycling very seriously, servicing 100 recycling boxes in the Klang Valley and even sending trucks to pick up your bulky items for free. To schedule a pickup, check out this page.