What do you do with your junk?

Question

Old crockery, kitchen equipment, old clothes, just tat and junky gimmicky gadgets.

What do you do with it - when you dont want it no more?

Answer 1

Junk in my house cycles ... when I get new sneakers, the current sneakers become garden shoes and last year's garden shoes go in the dumpster. When I got a new parka, the old parka was relegated to outdoor working parka; the old old one (beyond repair and cleaning) went to the dump. The children's clothes are normally in good shape when they outgrow them; these go in the charity box that I drop off at least once a month. The broken kitchen gadget goes in the junk and I don't buy another one until I absolutely positively know that I can't cook without it. If the gimmicky gadget still does what it is supposed to do, give it to the charity ... some people shop at Salvation Army or other missions just to find replacements for Grandma's 1962 eggbeater or whatever.

In our area, a business has partnered with a sheltered workshop to train folks to deconstruct and recycle computers, electronics, TVs, etc., etc. Twice a year they are onsite at the county landfills to collect these items, and shred your hard disk as you watch.

Your local emergency housing agencies, women's shelters, etc. can use all sorts of things from mismatched dinner ware and pots and pans to bedding, blankets, small appliances ... ditto for the homeless shelters.

My small town library welcomes books of all sorts. There is a huge demand for any and all fiction; whatever books they can't put into general circulation are held for an annual book sale that is an amazing fundraiser.

Recent books are easy to resell through am*zon, eb*y's sister site h*lf.com, or many other online book selling and swapping sites.

Whatever you do, please don't use your local mission store as a substitute for the county dump. Please make sure that the items you donate are truly usable for their intended purpose. These organizations don't have the resources to test each toaster or electric kettle.

Answer 2

I take really junky stuff to the council tip. I take old clothes to charity shops if they're in good condition, if not they go to the tip too. crockery and cr*p goes to the tip as well.

You can also make arrangements with your local council to collect stuff. My local council will collect 75 black bin bags at any one time (free of charge) provided you make arrangements with them and provided you've got the space on your own property to put them until they can collect - i'm saying this but it is four years ago now since I did this and of course recycling is a bigger thing now than it was then so it may have changed but it's well worth giving them a ring.

If I've loads of stuff I hire a skip - they're well worth the money because by the time you've made a hundred trips to the tip, used a load of petrol and damaged your car by trying to cram too much into it (as I once did - we all learn from experience) you could have paid for a skip.

If you have large kitchen equipment such as cooker and washer etc the council should actually come and collect this kind of stuff for free or for a small fee.

Answer 3

I take old clothes to either the salvation army, or some place that at least can use them. I would do the same with the rest of the stuff, but around here no one wants those, so what we do is put it all in a couple of boxes and put a free sign on it, and put it out front by the road. Usually most of it is gone in a day!

I thought about yard sales, but to me they're just a hassle for a few bucks, and this way you get rid of your old junk, without throwing it out!

Answer 4

I am giving some of my old stuff to a friend that is buying a house. Old clothing was donated to the Lupus foundation. They came and picked up the bags of clothes from my street.

Answer 5

i'd could pass with snail direct mail. no longer very environmentally friendly. what share unfavourable timber can we chop down for direct mail daily? a minimum of with unsolicited mail in case you turn on your filters... you may sidestep a sturdy volume of it. the only junk i do no longer innovations is a splash junk in the trunk. :)

Answer 6

If it's in good condition I have a yard sale and make a few bucks on it.
What ever is not sold I donate to our local humane society thrift shop. (NO KILL) that way everybody wins.

PS on my yard signs I always put
"MY Trash Your Treasure Sale"

Answer 7

Freecycle, and places like goodwill. Old clothes like shirts can be used as rags for cleaning.

Answer 8

I use freecycle and go to the flea market every so often. flea market is much easier than a yard sale imo. I also give to CARC and places like that.

Answer 9

Car boot sale, Ebay, recycle, give it to charity shops.

Answer 10

I give them away on my local Freecycle group. Freecycle groups are groups on yahoo where you can list things you would otherwise throw away. You must give them away for free, no selling.