Donate Goods

We accept donations of most materials in good, clean, reusable condition at our two ReUse Center locations. Our donation acceptance areas are currently open Sunday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm (Closed on Thursdays). See our donation acceptance guidelines below for more detail and what we can and cannot accept.

Schedule a Pickup

We are currently accepting pick-up requests from businesses, educational institutions, or large residential donations, especially furniture. Click here to put in a request through out online form.

More information...

Donation Receipt Form

Save time by filling out our printable Donation Receipt form. Enter your information and the items you are bringing to donate, print it out, and bring it with you to our Donations Intake desk with your items. This form becomes a valid tax receipt after being stamped by Finger Lakes ReUse.

Donation Receipt Form

Donation Guidelines

Finger Lakes ReUse accepts quality used and surplus building materials, furniture, housewares, clothing, books, media, electronics, and much more. Your donations may be tax deductible and Finger Lakes ReUse will provide a donation receipt for your tax purposes. All items must be complete, clean, and in good usable condition, and FLR reserves the right to turn away any donation that has the potential to pose a health risk to its volunteers, customers, or staff.

 

Please call (607) 257-9699 to verify acceptable items, as donation policies frequently change without notice based on space availability. 

Please click on the categories below for more department-specific details about what we can and cannot accept.

BUILDING MATERIALS

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept a wide variety of building materials in reusable condition, including lumber, doors, hardware, tools and much more!

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:

  • Materials that are damaged, cracked, broken, rotted, warped, or mildewed
  • Materials with peeling or flaking paint
  • Lumber and wood trim shorter than 6 feet
  • Irregularly cut sheet goods (plywood, paneling, drywall, etc.)
  • Countertops shorter than 12 inches
  • Windows, cabinets, or doors with missing or broken pieces
  • Unframed/loose glass panes
  • Doors that are unevenly cut
  • Single light window sashes
  • Used carpet
  • Painted trim
  • Tiles that are broken, chipped, stained, or have mortar or glue on any side
  • Hazardous, toxic, or combustible materials such as gasoline, kerosene, etc.
  • Propane tanks
  • Chemicals of any kind (except paint. See below)
PAINT

Ithaca ReUse Center (214 Elmira Road) is now a Paintcare drop-off site.  ReUse can accept house paint as well as primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings such as shellac and varnish. 

Accepted: 

  • Interior and exterior architectural paints: latex, acrylic, water-based, alkyd, oil-based, enamel (including textured coatings)
  • Deck coatings, floor paints (including elastomeric)
  • Primers, sealers, undercoats
  • Stains
  • Shellacs, lacquers, varnishes, urethanes (single component)
  • Waterproofing concrete/masonry/wood sealers and repellents (not tar or bitumen-based)
  • Metal coatings, rust preventatives
  • Field and lawn paints

Not accepted:

  • Paint thinners, mineral spirits, solvents
  • Aerosol coatings
  • Auto and marine paints
  • Art and craft paints
  • Caulking compounds, epoxies, glues, adhesives
  • Paint additives, colorants, tints, resins
  • Wood preservatives (containing pesticides)
  • Roof patch and repair
  • Asphalt, tar and bitumen-based products
  • 2-component coatings
  • Deck cleaners
  • Traffic and road marking paints
  • Industrial Maintenance (IM) coatings
  • Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) (shop application) paints and finishes

ReUse cannot accept containers that are leaking, empty, or without the original printed manufacturer’s label.

FURNITURE

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept most furniture in good reusable condition.

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:

  • Mattresses, box springs, waterbeds, or waterbed accessories
  • Furniture that is broken, unassembled, incomplete, stained, torn, or has odors
  • Plastic furniture that’s not in excellent, clean and unbroken condition
HOME ELECTRONICS

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept most consumer electronics in good, reusable, and working condition.

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept televisions that are:

  • Older than 7 years
  • Cable incompatible
  • Console style
  • Black & white

Regarding Apple iPhones/iPads: If locked, please provide the passcode or reset the item to factory default settings before donating your item.

MEDIA

Finger Lakes Reuse will accept the following media: 

Commercially released, studio produced VHS tapes and DVDs
Commercially released, studio produced CDs, 8-tracks and cassettes
LP records with intact, undamaged covers; records can’t be moldy
Blank, unused DVDs

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:
Empty CD, DVD, cassette or other media cases
Electric typewriters (and cases) 

BOOKS

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept most books in good reusable condition.

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:

  • Moldy books
  • Books with strong odors, such as smoke and mildew
  • Books with broken spines or missing pages
  • Books with excessive writing or highlighting
  • Water-damaged books
  • Large volume encyclopedias, such as Britannica
COMPUTER AND PERIPHERALS

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept most computers and computer-related parts, working or not.

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:

  • Printers or copiers that one person cannot safely lift and carry, i.e. floor model copiers, large office laser printers
  • Physically cracked or broken CRT monitors (they are classified as hazardous waste)
  • Floppy disks of any type or size, used or unused
  • Computer disks, with the exception of commercially released computer games in original packaging
  • Media storage containers made of plastic, e.g. floppy disk containers, CD carousels, projector carousels, etc.

Regarding Apple iPhones/iPads: If locked, please provide the passcode or reset the item to factory default settings before donating your item.

APPLIANCES

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept small and large household appliances that are in good, clean, reusable, and working condition.

Refrigerators, Dehumidifiers, Air Conditioners or any appliance using freon cooling agent will be accepted for a fee of $20. The fee is collected to cover costs if the unit must be recycled.

The $20 fee will be returned to the donor in the form of a coupon for $20 off one transaction at either store.

TEXTILES

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept adult and children’s clothing, shoes, jackets, linens, blankets and all other types of textiles that are in clean and reuseable condition (no stains, tears or rips). 

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept moldy or wet clothing and other textiles.

HOUSEHOLD AND OTHER ITEMS

Finger Lakes ReUse can accept a wide variety of household goods in clean, reusable, and working condition.

Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept:

  • Bicycle helmets with evidence of involvement in a crash or impact, such as a cracked, broken, or scuffed outer shell or has frayed or broken chin straps, or broken buckles.
  • Used Personal care items such as hairbrushes, nail care items, etc.
  • Corded blinds of all types
  • Unframed, non-beveled mirrors
  • Bed pillows (decorative pillows are ok)
  • Dirty or broken packing materials (soiled packing peanuts, popped bubble wrap/air pillows)
  • Hard/form-fitting styrofoam
  • Used fluorescent bulbs (can only accept fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) if they are sealed in their original packaging)
  • Any recalled products or items

*Please note that some items Finger Lakes ReUse cannot accept may be donated to other nonprofit programs, or recycled or disposed of at the Tompkins County Solid Waste & Recycling Center, at 122 Commercial Ave, Ithaca. For more information on recycling or disposal in Tompkins County, call (607) 273-6632 or visit recycletompkins.org for further information.

*The Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits the selling of recalled products, and Finger Lakes ReUse makes every effort to fully comply with these regulations.