It’s Saturday afternoon and you are climbing over the stuff in the back room, wishing you had some storage space. If you knew what to do with everything, you’d clean it out.

The good news is, there are places for things to go and some convenient options for obtaining the information you seek.

Take the Internet. Day or night, you can go online to the Recycle and Disposal Lookup table maintained by the Kitsap County Solid Waste Division.

There, you will find information on what to do with broken appliances, old batteries, scrap metal or other items you no longer want to store. If you’d rather talk to a real person, call The Open Line at (360) 337-5777 during business hours and they will find the answer or find someone who can help you.

Is some of that surplus too good for even the recycle bin? Let’s say you just did some remodeling and upgrading at the office, and you ended up with some old countertops, bookshelves, a cash register that still works, a desk, and some file cabinets that are not too pretty, but serviceable.

List them for free on the State’s new website.

Kitsap County has its own page where you can list your surplus (but not your retail products). It’s not an auction, just a garage sale that never closes. This site does not accept chemicals or other hazardous materials.

Another option is the Industrial Materials Exchange (IMEX).

The online version at is updated weekly, or you can get a free hard copy, updated quarterly, by calling (206) 296-4899. This regional materials exchange is free for businesses to use. On any given day you might find listings for free or cheap fiber drums, PVC pipe, siding, used hospital items like wheelchairs and walkers, restroom dispensers, and industrial chemicals.

Then there are the perennial questions asked by business owners everywhere. The following is a sampling of some of the most often asked questions and the answers:

What is my company supposed to do with old computers?

Monitors: You’ll see on the Recycle and Disposal Lookup, under Electronics, that you can give MD Electronics in Poulsbo a call at (360) 779-6813 or take up to ten to the Olympic View Transfer Station. Both charge a fee to cover the costs of transporting the monitors to a responsible recycler who will deconstruct the monitor and recycle its components.

Don’t try this at home! Cathode ray tubes may contain small amounts of mercury and cadmium, and several pounds of lead. Let a trained professional do it. If your company has a large quantity, consider the other options listed (they may even pick them up at your business).

Another option is to check with your equipment manufacturer for reuse and recycling programs. Some companies offer rebates or trade-in programs. As for schools, some accept used computers, but probably have criteria as to what they will accept and in what quantity, so it is very important to call ahead.

Computer peripherals: MD Electronics accepts all computer equipment. You can also ask your manufacturer if they’ll take back the keyboards, mouse, and Central Processing Unit (CPU). Retailers sometimes offer take-back programs that include the monitor and everything else that goes with your computer.