You should replace your mattress every eight years or so for a good night’s restful sleep. After several years, the materials your mattress is made from will start to degrade, and you won’t have the support you need for peaceful sleep. So, what do you do with the old mattress? Can you throw a mattress in a dumpster? There are a few ways to get rid of it properly that don’t harm the environment while getting rid of that big, bulky mattress that is just taking up valuable space in your home.
A Neighborhood Depository
The items you take here will be recycled to avoid filling up the landfills in your area. Some cities have neighborhood depositories in different locations to provide a safe environment for disposal of mattresses as local waste products. You must adhere to the hours and rules to go this route, so it’s best to call ahead first.
Heavy Trash Day
Some areas also have a heavy trash day that can be every few months or a few times to once a year. Some of the services allow you to simply put your old mattress and solid waste outside near your garbage bins, and others require you to transport them to a particular area. Individual garbage services usually pick up large items from your home, but the city and county-run agencies will require you to take the items to them.
Donate Your Old Mattress
If your mattress is still in pretty good shape, but it didn’t suit you, think about donating it to a Goodwill or another organization that will help a less fortunate person or family out that can’t afford a mattress. You can check with your local charities to find out which will take your mattress, and they may pick it up from you, or you may need to take it to them. Remember that churches and local shelters often collect mattresses to help the needy.
Resell Your Mattress Or Give it Away
You can post your mattress for sale or for free on social media or on bulletin boards in local stores and establishments. If you first list it for sale and don’t get any responses, you can always re-list it as a free item to have someone pick it up from you.
Take It To A Recycling Center
Do a quick online search to see if a recycling facility near you will accept mattresses. A recycling service may pick the mattress up from you for a fee, including the mattress or a box spring. Any steel parts, including the box spring, can be sold for scrap metal at a recycling center, and the mattress materials themselves can be made into a new mattress.
Hire a Dumpster Rental
Can you throw a mattress in a dumpster? If your old mattress is being stored in a spare room at your home, in a garage, or a storage shed, and you plan to do a spring cleaning, you can always put it in a dumpster to dispose of it. Roll off dumpsters generally have a walk in rear door on them to make it easy to load large items into it. You can load all your waste and household junk at your own pace into the dumpster rental, and then the company will return to pick it up from you. Note that you can’t put hazardous waste in a rented dumpster.
Hire a Junk Removal Service
A junk removal service works similar to a roll-off dumpster, except the service can include loading your items into a dumpster and properly disposing of items to save you the backbreaking work and get rid of items you don’t need, don’t want or broken items. You may be able to find a specific mattress removal company as well.
How Not To Dispose of a Mattress
There are several things you should definitely not do to get rid of an old mattress. One includes just putting it out by your garbage cans without a heavy trash day coming up. This creates an eyesore, and it can also attract vermin to live in it, or people can get hurt on the metal parts.
Never burn a mattress. It will just smolder for a long time and create smoke that can be harmful, and usually, if you live in town, burning items in your lawn is not allowed. It could get you quite a sizable ticket if it’s not allowed.
Don’t just toss your old mattress out in a vacant lot because this is illegal, and the consequences can be severe, including a huge fine and even imprisonment. Only place a mattress in a dumpster that is leased by a business, too, or you can incur stiff fines.
You have several avenues to get rid of an old mattress by donating it, selling it, enlisting mattress recycling, having it removed by a junk removal service, or renting a dumpster for a larger scale clean out of your property. If you are taking it somewhere to rid yourself of it, be sure and call the location first to make sure what rules you need to follow to dispose of a mattress properly.
Dielman Moving and Storage Inc. is here to help if you want a professional junk removal service. We proudly offer free over-the-phone or on-site estimates for the removal of unwanted items. Our trained professionals provide top-quality service with efficiency and speed. Consider scheduling an appointment with us and get a free estimate today.
