Quality disposal of excess posessions

young_pensioner

Having just read a very old thread about clearing out clutter and excessive possessions, I thought I must share with anyone who is interested, what we in my local community do.

Approximately twice each year we have what is called a "Clear-out Day". The method is that if anyone has any item whatsoever which they no longer use or need, they take it/them along on the appointed day to the local community centre.

The 'goods' (be it household, garden, clothing etc etc) are displayed and should any other member of the locality have a use for them, they are welcome to take it away for absolutely no charge. At the end of the day, the organisers offer any remaining item to the local charity shops. Finally, if anything still remains it is removed the local disposal unit.

This method of de-cluttering means that items are re-used or recycled in the most efficient way. It also releases a little something back into the community.

Hope someone else may find this of some interest or value for their own locality.

HOLsale

thanks for posting that, it's a very nice way of doing it and you may meet a few people in your community at the same time

people all over the world are doing something called Freecycle which allows people to offer and ask for unwanted items all for free

i'm a co moderator of the edinburgh freecycle and it's great, in fact i'm going to pick up a copy of linux for my dh this afternoon, and i have another freecycle member coming to pick up some of my dd's old clothes and shoes this evening!

why not have a look at their site and spread the word :T

http://www.freecycle.org/

melt71

What a great idea!

I've just joined my local freecycle group and so far so good. I've got hardly any clutter as I'm very strict but there's always something I want to get rid of.

If only I could just convince my bf's mum to get involved in something like this....

HOLsale

one of the best things about freecycle is that you can offer up things that charity shops won't take

many times you'll see less than perfect furniture, vcrs that don't run as well as they used to etc but many people know how to fix things, like to tinker or in the case of furniture are happy to put a throw over it so this way you can clear them out as charity shops won't accept stuff like that

thought i should edit this to say that it's not a dumping ground, i offer up plenty of things charity shops would take as well, just that it's an option to the landfill!

young_pensioner

Just had a quick look (I'm in work!) at freecycle website. What a great idea. I will join as soon as I get home today.

Wish I had known about it a little while ago. We have had the contents of two homes belonging to deaceased relatives to dispose of. It is so difficult to find a home for things. This was when we found our local facility so useful. We felt it would be so disrespectful to just 'dump' someone's treasured items!

shazrobo

i have found that my local charity shops will not accept any electrical goods, no matter how new they are, so i freecycled lots wen me and my partner moved in together

Contains_Mild_Peril

It's great for electrical appliances. Shops can't legally sell them unless they have an electrician check their safety, so for most this would be uneconomical, especially for items which are of low value but still useful, e.g. VCRs, CRT monitors etc.

lil_me

www.dontdumpthat.com is another. I prefer the forum based set up rather than the emails.

Gingham_Ribbon

I'll move this to the green board where I think you'll get more response. Sounds like a good community you live in!

Penelope_Penguin

Near where I live, a lady set up a charity shop herself. It takes most things (though not electrical goods or upholstered furniture without fire-resistant tags), and there's always a steady trade. Items are sold very cheaply (useful as it's a very poor community) and raises £1000/week :T :T :T which is given to local charities.

When I set up Rainbows and a football club, we were given useful sums of money (without having to go through the hoops of grant applications) which enabled us to concentrate on starting the groups, rather than fundraising.

A couple of years ago I took a stair gate - I was mobbed and it was sold - it never got into the shop :rotfl:

The lady was given an OBE for her work, but sadly died last year. The shop lives on - I'm off to drop some stuff later.

Penny. x

Ken68

Yes, YP...couldn't agree more about de-cluttering, and Freecycle is ideal for large items. Been doing it for two years and getting to know more of the local recyclers.
The Friends of the Library will accept books and find that small items are best donated to charity shops.