Avoid Donating These Items At El Paso’s Goodwill Stores

So if you’re like me, you use the beginning of the year to clean out your closet and get rid of clothes you don’t wear anymore.

Usually I will gather my clothes and sell them at Plato’s closet or Uptown Cheapskate. Whatever is left I will donate them to Goodwill. Clothing items are always safe to donate, but I recently learned that there is a list of items Goodwill suggests you definitely don’t donate!

Goodwill estimates more than 60,000 cars will roll through donation lanes this month alone, which means workers are seeing everything. Most recently a Goodwill in Tucson had to evacuate when someone donated a novelty grenade! While the intention may be good, some donations are just a hard no.

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Top 10 items Goodwill says please keep at home:

1. Broken items – If it’s busted, dusty, and beyond repair, it’s trash, not a donation.
2. Wet items – Mold is not something employees want to deal with.
3. Bowling balls – Surprisingly common. Still unwanted by Goodwill locations.
4. Chemicals and paint – Dangerous, messy, and not resale-friendly.
5. Carpeting – Old carpet? Immediate no.
6. Water beds – People still have water beds?!
7. Hot tubs – Yes, people try. No, they shouldn’t.
8. Construction materials – Loose tiles, drywall, and mystery wood are not accepted.
9. Office cubicles – Seriously? Who is donating a whole cubicle?!
10. Tires – Goodwill is not a tire shop.

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The moral of the story? Donating is awesome, but donating responsibly is even better. When in doubt, ask yourself: Would I buy this? If the answer is “absolutely not,” it might be time for the trash can instead.