There's a charity in our area called A Room To Heal. They makeover rooms for kids who are sick with cancer, etc. They create murals on the walls and ceilings in bedrooms or playrooms for these kids and always accept paint donations. A couple of friends created this charity in response to a specific case that hit close to home and have expanded the group's mission every year. Check to see if there is anything like that in your area. If not, why not start one?

these are some GREAT ideas, thank laxsupermom and bigdtc!

I mix most of them together, and then ask my SW salesperson to match it to a color so it has an identity.
Currently I have about 4 gallons of a blah color similar to Crown Point Sand. I'd prefer Old Salem Gray,or another gray-green and I'm hoping SW can adjust it to be that color when I'm ready to paint a green shade. Anyone else do this?? I also have to listen to my husband tell me I'm nuts to buy all these sample paints for $5!!!!

Your local high school art departments may be able to use the paint.

sewwhatsnew, that's hilarious :)

I give mine to our local theater. They use the paint for sets.

sewwhatsnew - you do this with the little sample jars??? Now THAT'S a lot of sampling to get a gallon!!!! I buy quarts because there's not enough paint in the samples to really get a feel for a color. And I do mix them and adjust them (I keep my own universal tints) or have them adjusted, but I'm starting out with a lot more paint.

mairin I'm in the northern Chicago suburbs and belong to freecycle. Unfortunately I've had no luck getting rid of paint through them - everything else goes, but not paint. You can try Habitat for Humanity - they have several re-stores in the Chicago area but I don't know which one would be closest to you - Gurnee is about 25 miles from me.

I've donated paint to Re-store before. If you can't give it away either here or somewhere else you can always consider "magic paint". I've mixed leftovers and samples that didn't make the cut and used it to paint garages and storage areas. I call it "magic" paint because I'm never sure what color I'll really end up with and it can NEVER be duplicated. Needless to say it drives my DH crazy! It is a great way to get rid of those dribs and drabs (or spare quarts).

Wow, what brilliant ideas everyone else has, I'm going to try them. I give my paint to my painters -- if they'll take it. I've taken it to the hazardous waste drop off at the dump. I've paid someone else to take it there...

Speaking of getting rid of paint, I once had a painter dump a bunch of it (really toxic lacquer no less) into one of the planter beds in my back yard! His boss heard about that.

More recently, a painter here asked if he could dump some paint waste products on our side yard near the hose bib.

I cannot figure anyone even thinking of doing such things.

The only time you need to take paint or stain to the hazmat drop is if it's oil-based. Water-based products can go in the trash if it's just not salvageable (for instance, if it froze and curdled, or it's just too old - I've had the pigments in old paint and stain settle into a solid brick at the bottom of the can). Here's how my previous town asked that people dispose of latex paint: Get yourself some sand or plain old cheap kitty litter and mix it with the paint to a thick oatmeal consistency. Leave the can lid off until the paint has dried into a rock, and chuck it right into the trash. If you wish to recycle the metal cans, scrape all the "oatmealed" paint into a heavy trash bag (put the trash bag in a box or bucket first, just to keep it confined) before it dries, allow it to dry out, put the metal can in the recycling and the hardened paint into the trash.

I think last time I had a bunch of those little BM sample pots (a lot of the time from the first smear I know it ain't gonna happen, so 90% of it's left over) I asked on here if anyone wanted them, and they ended up getting mailed halfway across country! Another lovely poster was kind enough to give me all HER sample quarts and "whoops, that didn't come out quite the way I thought it would" paint which ended up being enough to paint almost my entire house interior for sale in 2007 - she saved me a couple of hundred dollars.

I've had much more success giving my paint samples away on Craigslist (free forum) than on Freecycle. Freecycle is so clogged in my city. The free forum on Craigslist is much easier to navigate.

Can you buy sample quarts from the dealers (like BM)? Pricewise, how do they compare to simply going into the store to buy a quart? Is it the same stuff; ie eggshell, semi-gloss? Or just color to get an idea what it looks like.

I mean, a quart of what I'd normally use from them is about $17. A quart is all I actually need for the job I'm doing.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for all the creative ideas everyone!!! They will definitely go someplace to be used.

If your room needs artworks -- simply buy a canvas from Michaels or Hobby Lobby -- and use blue tape to create simple but random-sized stripes -- and paint away!

Instant artwork! :)

I put a bunch of them together in a bucket and sold them at my garage sale for like 3 or 5 bucks or something. Craigslist is pretty worthless in my area (too rural), but I have used freecycle to get rid of some things that were very usable like old kitchen cabinets.

I just gave away 18 (!) sample quarts on Craigslist Free Stuff. The guy responded about ten minutes after I posted.

Here's some hints: Paint a block of the color on each lid, then take a photo of all the containers (showing the colors) and attach the photo to the listing.

Write a description -- the brand, the colors, the finish.

Put the word FREE in capital letters.

Easy peasy.

dgo1223, to answer your question, Sherwin Williams sells much large samples paints than BM. BM pots are pretty tiny. The SW Color to Go containers are not quite a quart, but pretty close. It only comes in one sheen (maybe eggshell? I'm not sure). As far as being the same paint, it seems very similar to some of their lower quality "builder grade" paint. It covers pretty well but is rather thin and drippy, making it harder to apply. At only $5, it's a good bit cheaper than their full size quart. I've heard good things about Kilz and Dutch Boy paint from Walmart; it's not much more for a quart and the quality might be better than that of sample paint.