3 Easy Ways to Recycle Old Trophies

Kids collect trophies, ribbons, plaques, medals and paper plate awards by the buckets! My young son’s collection is manageable but we are less scheduled than your average family. Fewer activities definitely means fewer items to display and store.

Inevitably, empty nesters and their adult children will find themselves digging through boxes of ribbons and trophies wondering what to do with old trophies. And what I usually hear is that no one wants the stuff. Especially the children who actually earned the awards. As an organizer and minimalist, I encounter this often with my clients. And it tends to be more difficult for the parents to part with the items.

If you find yourself struggling to let go of these items and with adult children who just want you to throw it all out, take a breathe. I encourage you to respect their decision and give them the items to handle as they see fit. And yes, that may be the trash can.

Sentimental Items

When it comes to all sentimental stuff, like trophies, I suggest a “some not none” approach. This same concept works well with awards and trophies. The passage of time helps to make the decisions easier. If your kids are grown, ask them and do not argue with their decision. Younger generations are much less tied to physical items and that’s a good thing. They will have less decluttering work to do and save money not buying as much stuff either. Once you have identified the items, if any, that they want to keep, box them up and mail or deliver to the athletes, musicians, and scholars who earned them.

I find it’s really hard for parents to accept that their children will likely decline most of their childhood stuff. They do not want it, but be sure to ask first and ideally have them go through all their stuff and make all the decisions including driving it to Goodwill.

Empty Nesters, be prepared, you children are not interested in your china or crystal either. By nature, younger generations value experiences, not stuff. Rather than get upset with them for not accepting family heirlooms, try to applaud their desire to look forward not backward. Here are three ways to help everyone move forward with the trophies.

1. Honor the Memories

If you’re downsizing, it can help make the letting-go process easier by taking photos of the trophies and plaques. Snap a few photos of the awards and reminisce with your children. Share the photos on social media or via text to start a conversation. But resist the urge to build a trophy case in their childhood bedroom.  Their future significant others will thank you for decorating the room with a more welcoming decor. Keep in mind that you probably have childhood photos when they received the trophy too. Spend your efforts getting those in order instead of making space for endless trophies and awards

2. Recycle

Assuming the kids have said, no thanks, consider donating old trophies. Here are some great options for recycling old trophies. There is a Nationwide Trophy Recycling Program that refurbishes old trophies. They break down the awards and rebuild items to donate to non-profit organizations and then recycle the remaining parts. Read the details of the program here.*

3. Upcycle

If you still have kids at home or are particularly nostalgic about your own trophies, consider re-purposing them. There are literally thousands of ideas on Pinterest if you want to upcycle your trophies.

You can create coat racks and shadowboxes. Coat racks are useful in a kid’s room or a man cave. I can actually get on board with this idea. Nameplates can be removed from trophies and consolidated into one shadowbox to showcase a meaningful highlight reel.

I’m not a particularly creative person and prefer to spend my time on experiences with my family instead of crafting. But some of you are super creative and I love that! My son’s childhood trophies will either move out with him or be recycled. He has already decided to throw a few away. I love looking at the photos of him participating in these sports or when he received the trophy itself. Those photos bring back all the memories without keeping the award it. And that’s what I want to remember.

I can still remember how he felt about each sport and his teammates. And how he experienced success and failure. It’s not just the highs but the lows that made him who he is today.

In the meantime, enjoy the walk down memory lane and snap a few photos. Then, pass on the awards and trophies.

How will you declutter old trophies today?

*This article was updated to remove the vendor Lamb Awards who is no longer recycling old trophies. At the time of this article update, Nationwide Trophy Recycling Program was accepting trophy donations.