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Where to Donate Stuff for Recycling in Manila: Tzu Chi Foundation

January 9, 2019

NOVEMBER 2021 PANDEMIC UPDATE: They have free pick ups but if you want to send your items asap to declutter faster you can send items via Lalamove (if it fits in a motorcycle) or Transportify if it fits a car or bigger, like an L300 or even a truck. Please practice contact free shipping by paying for them online, and tip your riders/drivers generously since they are risking their lives to help us deliver items.

In my last post about where to send decluttered items, I talked about where to donate usable and damaged clothings. In this post, I’d like to share with you my favorite place to send decluttered items: Tzu Chi Foundation. It’s so convenient because:

  1. We can donate usable items that can help calamity victims and the poor.
  2. We can also donate items that are no longer useful, but recyclable. The proceeds of their recycling go to helping their charitable beneficiaries
  3. They also pick up for free, if you have enough items to donate. But please note they schedule pick up according to how many other pick ups they have in your area. We cannot rush them since they are doing this free of charge. It’s best to email them pictures, so they know what size truck to bring.

WHAT DOES TZU CHI ACCEPT?

Broken appliances & recyclables which we had Tzu Chi pick up in behalf of a client

Tzu Chi accepts both usable and unusable (but recyclable) items, which is why it’s so convenient when you have a lot of things that you want to declutter from your home.

Did you know that you can also partner with Tzu Chi for your building (hello building admins!) or offices so you can set up a trash segregation system and recycle your waste! They can then pick up weekly. AMAZING!

  • Clothes that are in good usable conditionClothes that are in good usable condition.
    • Please wash or sanitize the clothes before donating so that they are ready for use by the poor/calamity victims
    • Damaged clothing should be donated here instead.
  • All types of paper i.e. Newspaper, scratch paper, books, magazines
  • Cartons and corrugated boxes
  • Aluminum and any other metals
  • Glass bottles (safety tip: no jagged edges & in a container)
  • PET or water mineral bottles and assorted plastics
  • old or broken appliances
  • old and useable furniture UPDATE: Please send them pictures of the furniture, because they will not accept some furniture.

ASSISTANCE TO CALAMITY VICTIMS

When there is a huge typhoon, earthquake or other calamity, Tzu Chi focuses all their resources on assisting the victims, so they aren’t able to pick up.

During these times, it’s best to drop off your donations/recyclables:

  • Fridays 7am to 12nn
  • 76 Cordillera corner Agno St, Dona Josefa, QC

If you don’t have a driver like me, it’s easy to send your stuff using Transportify or Lalamove.

Tzu Chi also accept cash donations that can help them in their efforts.

HOW TO BOOK PICK UPS FOR LARGE/BULK ITEMS OR

  1. Get in touch with Tzu Chi and send them pictures of your items via email, viber or FB messenger (see bottom for contact details) and ask them if they will accept the items, and if they can pick up. This gives them an idea of what size truck to bring.
  2. If they are able to pick up, you will need to wait for their advice on when they have a pick up in your area. They usually give one day’s notice.
  3. Sort items for donation and place similar categories in one container each.

PLEASE DONATE MINDFULLY

  • Do not donate items that are not appropriate for helping the less fortunate or victims of calamity. e.g. Tshirts, shorts, jeans & other warm climate appropriate items. Tzu Chi is not the place for disposing your old stilettos, ball gowns or winter stuff. For these types of items, better to donate to Segunda Mana, where they sell it to people who might need them but can’t afford them brand new.
  • Be sure to sort your items into categories, & label accordingly. Let’s not add to their work by placing everything jumbled together
  • Place each category in a box or reusable bags with labels. For example: “toys” or “clothes for girls 1-3yo” or “books.” It’s better to donate in reused boxes, because they are stackable and you can easily label it. The boxes can be recycled afterwards.
  • Please do not donate using trash bags. Not only is it messy, adds to plastic waste, and not easy to label, but it doesn’t honor the people you are donating to. It feels more like trash than useful donations.
  • Just because you are donating a lot of items, it doesn’t mean that it should look like trash. It’s important to donate mindfully. For example, if you have a bag of broken glass items, it would not be safe for them to handle, so they probably will not accept this.

Good To Know For Manila Declutterers:
Where to Conveniently Donate Used Clothes in ANY condition

ANOTHER ONE STOP PLACE FOR DONATIONS

Usually people only know SEGUNDA MANA as a place for usable donations for home, fashion and so much more, because they resell it in their shops, wherein 100% of the proceeds go to education thousands of poor Filipino children a year.

What may not be common knowledge is that they also work with junk shops and are able to receive RECYCLABLE DONATIONS. Just make sure to let them know, and that they are labelled and segregated properly. If it looks like a jumble of trash, they will not take it.

Another thing they do is teach people how to repair broken items so that they can make a living from it. This means that they may accept broken furniture. But you must inform them and send photos on Viber (see below) first to make sure that it’s something they can still repair.

Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines

76 Cordillera cor. Agno Street, Barangay Doña Josefa, Quezon City
(632) 8732 0001 / 8732 0002
Viber Anita +63922-8460640 • +63976 044 6998
facebook

images via Tzu Chi Foundation

18 Comments · manila good to know

Comments

  1. Sue Dols says

    February 24, 2019 at 11:45 AM

    I have 5 large bags of clothing for donation. I live in BGC, metro manila.
    Can you pick up my donation?

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      March 5, 2019 at 3:09 PM

      Hi I am in no way affiliated with Tzu Chi Foundation, however I am a happy donor of items that are either usable or recyclable. As mentioned in the post, please take a photo and send to the contact we provided and ask them if they are able to schedule a pick up in BGC. They usually schedule it with the rest of their pick ups in your area. If you are in a hurry to declutter and you have a driver, then you can send the items directly to them. We have provided their contact details in the post. Thanks and happy decluttering!

      Reply
  2. Jen says

    August 31, 2019 at 12:40 PM

    Hello! Can we just send it via lalamove or do we have to contact them first before sending?

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      September 10, 2019 at 1:42 PM

      I would contact them and ask for a contact name and number each time I send via Lalamove so that the lalamove rider has someone to get in touch with and meet up with.

      Reply
  3. Abigail Crisanta De Castro says

    September 30, 2019 at 12:18 PM

    hi how do you contact them? i collected plastic wastes and i want to make sure it will be recycled. i messaged them thru fb and email but i’ve got no response.

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      September 30, 2019 at 1:27 PM

      In our experience, they are more responsive if you call them on their landlines. Have you tried their landlines? =)

      Reply
  4. Jomzky says

    November 14, 2019 at 6:58 PM

    Ihave a lot of clothes that I want to donate for victims of calamity, but I’m located in Bulacan. Do they have an email where I could send pictures of boxes of clothes?
    *** clothes are all in good condition.

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      November 15, 2019 at 6:57 PM

      You can Viber Jay of Tzu Chi at 09223158681

      Reply
  5. Julianne Marie Bejar says

    June 9, 2020 at 4:46 PM

    Hello, is this Tzu Chi still active? I’d like to donate scratch paper That I have. Thank you.

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      June 9, 2020 at 8:33 PM

      Should be, but I don’t know if they are operating during quarantine. They might not be operating at all for safety.

      Reply
  6. Edward says

    August 28, 2020 at 8:46 PM

    Can you help us to get all the things not segregated yet because only my wife left since thier parents past and they have a lot of things that even I cannot handle to do it segregate from old things plastic plate glass plate boxes magazines and old antiques furnitures and wood to usefull thank you

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      August 28, 2020 at 10:45 PM

      Hi there, unfortunately due to the COVID19 I am unable to do home visits right now. I can recommend getting in touch with Humble Sustainability. They have a website and they can pick up recyclables for free. I would have them pick up as much as possible so you only need to handle what is left. They can pick up literally ANYTHING. Please mention that you were recommended by Ayessa of DeclutterMNL.

      Reply
  7. chui says

    August 28, 2021 at 5:01 PM

    Hello! Is scrap fabric ALLOWEd?

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      September 2, 2021 at 2:23 AM

      Hi you can give away scrap fabric to Segunda Mana or post it on Buhay Zero Waste preloved FB group. Someone will pick it up for sure!

      Reply
  8. Cherry go says

    September 26, 2021 at 8:54 PM

    Hi.

    Can you pls make list of places & contact numbers where to donate broken appliances, furnitures & old clothes.
    Thank you so much for your help

    Cherry

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      October 1, 2021 at 1:08 AM

      You may donate broken appliances to Tzu Chi because they recycle the materials. However for furniture & old clothes you may donate to Segunda Mana. You can find the contact details of Segunda Mana here: https://undiplomaticwife.com/where-to-donate-clothes-in-manila/. You are most welcome!

      Reply
  9. Arlene s. Salvacion says

    March 19, 2022 at 12:13 PM

    Hello. Where can we donate schredded papers? Mixed of shredded white and brown PAPERS? Thanks

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      March 29, 2022 at 11:06 PM

      Hi you can donate it to Tzu Chi. Please get in touch with them to coordinate pick up if it’s in bulk. If it’s small enough, you can send via Lalamove or Grab.

      Reply

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Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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