Reduce, reuse, recycle — that's the basis of Earth Day, which is Friday, April 22, this year. People who follow these principles help save natural resources, conserve energy and water and save money in the process.

Here is a guide to how to responsibly discard many of the trickier household items. 

It starts with asking whether you need an item — from a new shirt or shoes to furniture — and considering its packaging. 

Next is deciding if an item can be reused, whether by being repurposed or given to someone who can use it. The Bloomington branch of freecycle.org is one option. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3uVxPrR.

Habitat for Humanity's Restore, at 850 S. Auto Mall Road, accepts donations of gently used home improvement items during business hours. People should send photos of potential large items and cabinet set donations to donations@monroecountyhabitat.org before donating them. Go to www.monroecountyhabitat.org/restore/ to see what items are not accepted.

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Bloomington's three Goodwill stores at 512 S. College Mall Road, 1284 Liberty Drive and 220 S. Madison St. accept clothing, household items, books and electronics. Donations must be made during operating hours and not left outside unattended. For more, go to www.goodwillindy.org. 

People can drop off household goods, including microwaves, toaster ovens, radios, fans, clothing, toys, housewares, books, magazines, kitchenware, tools and gardening supplies at Monroe County Solid Waste District's Recycling Center Trading Post at 3400 S. Walnut St. from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Clothing items like costumes, coats and shoes in good condition are accepted for the waste district's Materials for the Arts, also at the South Walnut Street center. Small- and medium-sized stuffed animals in good shape are accepted and the trading post offers a paint exchange.

Large items including mattresses, clothing, toilets, construction material, doors, windows, televisions, computers, large electronic devices, tires, trash and items that no longer work are not accepted at the county's recycling center trading post.

St. Vincent De Paul accepts mattresses (free of bed bugs and not king-sized) and box springs, couches, chairs, dressers, microwaves, lamps, tables, flat screen televisions, vacuum cleaners, washers and electric dryers, fans, refrigerators, space heaters, stoves and window air conditioners. All items must be clean and in good working order. Donations can be dropped off 8-11 a.m. Saturdays at 1999 N. Packing House Road. The center does free pickups. For more information, call 812-961-1510 or go to https://www.svdpbloomington.org/.

Recycling is the third component and both Bloomington and Monroe County residents have options.

Bloomington's recycling is picked up curbside weekly at residences alongside trash. The city's recycling is single stream, meaning all recyclable materials — metal, cans, glass, paper and cardboard — are placed in one cart provided by the city.

To see if an item can be recycled, the city has a link on its website. Go to https://bit.ly/3McUfdO, type in your address and then click on recycle and type in the item to see if it can be recycled in your bin. 

No plastic packing, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags, plastic lids, plastic straws or plastic bags are accepted. Wood, cat litter, paint, plastic flower pots, wire hanger, wax and plastic coated boxes and pizza boxes aren't accepted.

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Anyone who has a mattress, furniture, grills, stoves, dehumidifiers, treadmills and other such items can call and schedule a pick up on a Thursday. Cost is $10 per item with the charge being added to the resident's utility bill. Call 812-349-3443.

Monroe County residents can recycle items at the Monroe County Waste Management District's five recycling centers, which have bins for paper and cardboard (must be dry); plastic (1-7, must be clean and dry, no plastic film or styrofoam); glass (must be clean and dry, no tempered glass); and metal, from food and beverage cans to dishwashers and microwaves.

For recycling center locations, go to www.gogreendistrict.com/.

The county's waste district offers year-round collection of electronic devices. A $20 per item fee is charged for items with a screen of 7 inches or larger; all other electronics are free.

Monroe County Solid Waste District's Bulky Item bin rotates among the rural recycling centers. Go to gogreendistrict.com/calendar to see where the bin is currently located and also what's accepted. Items must be from Monroe County residents, not contractors or businesses.

Cleaning supplies, auto products, over-the-counter medicines, pesticides and fertilizers, propane tanks, batteries, and flammable liquids, are accepted at the waste district's South Walnut Street hazardous waste facility. 

Cook Medical's annual Electronic Waste Recycle Day will be 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 30 at 500 N. Profile Parkway on Bloomington's west side. There is no cost for people to recycle electronic waste.

Accepted items include telephone systems, refrigerators, freezers, car seats (padding and cloth removed), air conditioners, personal computers, laptop/notebooks, dehumidifiers, desktop computers and CPUs, CRT monitors (no bare CRT tubes), mainframe computers, scanners, printers, fax machines, photocopiers, toner cartridges, holiday twinkle lights, washers and dryers, microwaves, floppy disks and thumb drivers, electronic motors, televisions, integrated circuits, computer mice, microphones, computer keyboards, VCR/DVD/CD players, game systems (XBox, Nintendo, Playstation), power supplies, surge protectors, computer boards, copiers, cash registers and satellite computers. No loose batteries or light bulbs will be accepted.

Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com, 812-331-4359 or @ckugler on Twitter.