- What's up PBS, welcome to my crib.

I've got the classic St. Louis curb appeal here with a nice open air concept.

I know it might not look like much, - [Cameraman] Brooke, I think this is a dumpster.

- Well, what else am I supposed to do with my furniture?

I'm Brooke Butler and welcome to "What Do I Do With this?"

The show that untangles the mess of modern waste so you don't have to.

In this episode, we're curbing the curbside furniture.

Every year, Americans throw out over 12 million tons of furniture, couches, chairs, coffee tables, creating actual mountains of landfill waste.

It's a 450% increase since the 1960s.

And thanks to fast furniture, stylish, affordable, but very often short-lived, we're buying more than ever.

And while fast furniture might afford our homes to look Pinterest perfect, all that style does come with a cost, mainly to the environment.

It's kind of a bad situation, a couch-tastrophe.

You might even call it an ottoman upright.

You get it, it's a problem.

And I've got the Allen wrenches to prove it.

Here's the dirty truth.

Abandoned furniture doesn't just look bad.

It can become a public health hazard, attracting vermin, insects and mold.

It increases the risk of disease, drags down property values and turns neighborhoods into blighted dumping grounds.

Many furniture pieces are made of mixed materials, particularly the cheap stuff like synthetic fabrics, foams, glues and particle board infused with chemicals.

These materials are tough, if not impossible, to separate.

When they break down, they can leach toxins into the soil and water, harm wildlife, and throw local ecosystems out of balance.

But here's the thing, necessity is the mother of exceptions.

Giving your furniture second life takes time planning and sometimes costs money.

Sometimes out with the old and in with the new seems like the best option.

Even if you vowed to never let a flat pack bookcase enter your threshold, life, tight budget, kids, family happens.

So let's skip the guilt and talk about solutions.

In this episode, we're diving into how you can give furniture a second life, whether it's donating, swapping, upcycling, or shopping sustainably in the first place.

We'll talk about how to chair-ish your home furnishings and curb the curbside furniture.

Whether you are looking to save big money or because you like nice things, there's no shortage of places to buy home furnishings around St. Louis.

But a place that might be overlooked could have just what you're looking for and yeah, might require a diamond in the rough mentality, but supports a larger mission.

- Because you can put something out in a dumpster in St. Louis and by the end of the day it's gone, clearly there's a want and a need for reuse and recycling.

- [Brooke] Harper Zielonko is the Director of Resource Development at Habitat for Humanity St. Louis.

At their restores, they accept donations of new and used home goods and supplies that are sold to the general public and the proceeds then go back to supporting their mission of building affordable housing.

- So Habitat homes are only one part.

We want to make sure that our community has access to resources to build themselves up as well.

And not everybody can afford to buy a brand new stove, but they can come to a Habitat Restore and buy what might actually be a brand new stove or a slightly used stove, and start building up the components of their home to make it a more safe and livable place for themselves so that we can all live in a more safe, equitable community.

- Well, we are here.

I'm here with my grandmother and my aunt.

We are looking for a bookcase.

- [Brooke] Why not just go to Ikea?

- Because the older things are reused.

Things have character and stories to them.

- One of the things we saw was like a hope chest, cedar chest.

And inside it, it has the dedication to the person.

The idea to have that in your house and to know that somebody made something for someone with such love and and craftsmanship and to have that in your own home, like it's not lost.

And if it just went to a landfill, it would be lost forever and that would be a shame.

- [Brooke] Damon Guthrie, general manager, has been with the Restore for over 12 years now.

What do you think about the whole like Ikea, Amazon furniture trend that's happening?

- Those items are very trendy and they're cheap and they're a lot more modern.

But it's still a lot of people that like the old world charm, that older look.

- [Brooke] And I would say it's sturdier, it lasts longer.

- The quality, wood is real.

It is not compressed.

And so those items really have a lot of value to 'em 'cause they've been around a while and they're still sturdy.

- [Brooke] What do you think has been the biggest change over the past decade plus?

- So once TVs became a lot thinner, we started getting an influx of those big TV stands and they weren't fast sellers.

- Oh, I didn't even think about that.

- But a lot of people started repurposing them and turn 'em into the wardrobe.

They turn 'em in the wardrobe chest and stuff.

So you have to just pitch it and say, hey, well, and then they say, I never thought of that and then they'll just put up-- - What is fashionable and doable changes almost monthly.

So one month, it might be taking antique curio cabinets and putting those into new use and then maybe it's finding new uses for doors or finding new gardening receptacles that you can put into your backyard with sustainable materials.

We've seen people do things with dishwashers that we were never expecting.

So the trends are always changing and Habitat always has materials to support those wants and needs for our DIYers, but then also people who have rental properties or just wanna take care of their own homes.

- It's not a St. Louis alleyway unless you see piles of furniture.

What do you hope people would do instead of just dump it out in the alley?

- Well, I would like for them to know about Habitat and know that we got a free pickup.

- Oh, free pickup.

- We have a free pickup service.

We also have a free deconstruction service.

I'm the deconstruction coordinator as well.

- To come and like take cabinets and doors, whatever.

- We do that for free 'cause we get to resale the items.

- Well that's less work than bringing it out to the alley.

- That's less work than bringing it out to the alley.

- Whether it's giving second life to a vintage chair or transforming a thrift store find into something completely new, DIY is more than just about style.

It's part of a larger conversation about sustainability in the spaces we live.

We went to Maryville University and talked with a sustainability interior design professor about how the decisions we make in designing our homes can impact the planet.

You teach sustainable design, what is that?

- Little or no waste is really the goal with sustainable design.

- [Brooke] Other factors to consider are the treatment of the workers making the furnishings.

Are they paid a fair wage?

Do they have safe working conditions?

And then there's the actual materials and consideration of the impact sourcing those things has on the community and the environment.

What would you recommend people look for when they're shopping for sustainable furniture design?

- Yeah, there's a few things.

So one would be renewable materials.

A classic example is bamboo.

So if you compare a bamboo table or a old growth maple table, the bamboo will be the more sustainable material choice.

With that said, if you did want that maple table, there are labels and certifications out there, which could still be made responsibly.

So there are a lot of labels out there similar to that.

That could also work.

Another aspect is health and the avoidance of chemicals.

So if unfortunately if a piece of furniture has chemicals in it, they will release into the air over time.

That's called offgassing.

And so that will end up in the air you breathe in your home.

Finally, one really important principle that's kind of underlying is if you can use a refurbished piece of furniture or re-give something a second life, that is always the most sustainable choice of any.

You're not using fresh resources, the product's already been made so can you rehab that to fit your needs?

Think about your everyday choices.

Your purchasing power is a power, right?

The way you spend your money one way or the other is telling of what you believe in and also drives change.

And so even if climate change is so overwhelming as a topic, and there's a lot of anxiety about it, but if you can start with your own personal choices and everyday life, that would be a great way to start.

- One of the biggest challenges in sustainable design is figuring out what to do with the stuff we no longer need.

And few items are harder to responsibly get rid of than mattresses.

Here's why, mattresses are made up of many different materials.

Memory foam, polyurethane, steel coils, cotton, felt, fabric, wood, it goes on.

Do you remember water beds, wasn't that like a big thing?

Each layer serves a different purpose and each one comes with its own recycling headache.

I loved water beds.

While the materials may be of value and could be recycled, separating them takes machines, time and money, which is why they usually go straight to the landfill.

What about air mattresses?

So why not just donate your old mattresses?

Most places won't accept them.

Because of health codes, concerns about bedbugs and the high cost of cleaning and transportation.

Even a gently used mattress can be more trouble than it's worth.

What about dog beds?

Anyway, what were we talking about?

Some mattress manufacturers will pick up your old mattress in exchange for a new one.

And of course there are also those junk removal options.

But all of these challenges are the main reason why most people toss it out for bulk pickup.

As Abigail mentioned, there are many labels to look for when shopping for a more sustainable option.

Also the seven year rule, that's a myth, right?

Like that you have to replace your mattress every seven years?

But mattresses aside, there are still many items that have a second life.

Right here in St. Louis, one nonprofit is making sure used furniture finds a new home and helps families start fresh.

- Home Sweet Home is a nonprofit furniture bank.

So we take furniture and household items.

We partner with almost 60 different nonprofit agencies who refer families to us.

And then those families get to come, shop, pick out their furniture and we deliver it to them.

- [Brooke] Betsy founded Home Sweet Home in 2015 after working for other nonprofits in the St. Louis area and seeing the need for this specific service.

- Typically the families we're working with also need everything.

So they're not just missing a couch or a kitchen table, like they're missing a couch, kitchen table, beds, pots and pans, dishes to eat off of.

So it can be truly transformational and their like general wellbeing at home, how they feel about waking up in the morning and just being able to tackle whatever hardships they have to go through the rest of that day.

- Are you so excited for a chair?

- [Brooke] Over the past 10 years, they've grown significantly with over 800 volunteers, 21 staff members, four moving trucks, and they serve up to 1200 families each year, which is a huge service, but the need is far greater.

- We did a needs assessment a few years ago where we learned that there are more than 100 different agencies and four additional counties that are seeking services from us.

- Around the St. Louis area.

- Around the St. Louis area, so we currently only serve St. Louis city and county.

So for us, it's not a very simple task to just grow.

To grow, you need another truck, you need two teams of movers, you need more insurance, you need more volunteers and stuff.

So that is within our next five to 10 year plan is to figure out how do we grow in a way that's sustainable but also so we can meet the needs of the community.

- [Brooke] Home Sweet Home currently works with over 50 agencies who assist with a wide range of housing insecurities from those recovering from substance abuse to veterans to survivors of domestic violence.

Those agencies can provide the actual housing, but to make it feel like a home is what can truly spark hope for that transformational time.

Aside from the mattresses which they use donations to purchase, nearly everything has been donated.

But unlike some things you might find at a secondhand store, clients don't need to worry about the quality or condition.

- We have been known to be a bit picky when we're accepting items.

So obviously things have to fit.

So when donors call and they're like, I have this like big kitchen table or this big, I dunno, China cabinet, my kind of response is, will it fit up three flights of a South City apartment.

Because that's kind of like just a general standard of what you're looking for.

If it's not gonna like make those turns or fit up those stairs, it's probably too big for most of our families.

- For a job that in a large part consists of lifting and carrying heavy furniture, the most challenging aspects really are when we have to turn down furniture from donors because a big part of our mission is having high quality items for our clients to pick from.

So there's like a dignity in that choice, and it's not just the dregs of whatever somebody didn't want to have in their own home anymore.

And so hopefully their heart's in the right place, they want to help out.

And sometimes turning down something that you need because it doesn't meet the standards is especially difficult 'cause we live and die by our donations and the generosity of our donors.

The great thing about Home Sweet Home is that you get to make an impactful difference in people's lives.

A couple months ago, I did a delivery to a single mother, two nice young and then just about a month ago, maybe two months after that delivery happened, I was on a pickup route and I ended up at her same house because she had gotten a job, she had gotten all new furniture for herself and then she turned around and re-donated everything that she had got back.

She kept it in pristine condition and it was just so nice to see some confirmation for like the start that we're able to help people get.

- Well I'm thankful, I'm grateful, I'm glad places like them exist and that when people do need help that it's here.

I appreciate it.

- Thanks for watching this episode of "What Do I Do With This?"

And I hope this gives some more insight into the next time you consider dumping your old furniture by the dumpster.

If you wanna find more local resources or if you have any thoughts or ideas, visit ninepbs.org/whatdoIdowiththis?

You know how many pieces of furniture in my house that I've gotten from the dumpster truly, seriously?

Yes, how many?

- [Cameraman] Five?

- Yeah, that's probably right.

Have you been to my house?

You're spying on me, let's go mattress surfing.