Downsizing: What to Do with the Trophies?

Sixth grade. The only year I made straight A’s until my last semester in college.

The year I won two writing contests.

The year I beat everyone in my class, including all the boys, at cross country.

The year I was nominated for Student of the Year and given the trophy above.

My girls have no sentiment whatsoever toward the trophies they earned, some for significant athletic, academic, or musical accomplishments. “I don’t want them,” they each told me. “Please get rid of them.”

The millennials are tough. They don’t like a lot of stuff sitting around.

So what do you do with your children’s trophies if they refuse to take them?

What do you do with your own trophies?

The decision can be even more difficult if you’ve inherited trophies awarded to a parent, and that parent is now gone.

How can you put such mementos in the trash?

If you’re willing to pay for shipping, here are two companies that take trophies, and one that takes medals. Awards that aren’t personalized will be donated to organizations in need, and those that are personalized are broken apart and many of the parts used again.

Trophies

Lamb Awards and Engraving

Awards Mall

Medals:  

Sports Medal Recycling

You can also check with your local awards shop to see if they have a recycling program.

Feeling crafty? Check out some of these ideas on Pinterest:

And look what they’re doing on Etsy. This old guy was re-purposed as a trophy for an Ugliest Christmas Sweater contest:

As for my Student of the Year trophy, I thought I was ready to give it up when I unpacked it a few weeks ago.

But then I set it on my desk bookcase for the blog photo, and it seems to fit. I think I’ll keep it a bit longer. The decision is easier for me since this is the only trophy I ever received. And even though I didn’t end up winning Student of the Year, six grade sure was a good year.