money for nothing - chucking stuff away

I got some really decent stuff on Freegle (fabrics, clothes, furniture) that I then upcycle/use for craft projects.

I have a few time wasters selling things on Facebook Marketplace though but I have sold some unwanted stuff.

I also donate things like clothes/shoes/books to charity shops.

Asks the woman why she is throwing away so much fabric/buttons. Answer - I didn't know what to do with it. SERIOUSLY?!

But she did do something with it, she brought it to them. She could have just chucked them in her wheely bin.

I've not seen the show, so I may be missing the point.

I'm not sure whether it's that people are just too stupid to think of anything other than chucking it away, or too lazy to send an email or pick up the phone. Also not sure which of the two case scenarios is worse.

I have ADHD procrastination, I put things in my car to donate and they sit in there for months. It's not laziness, I work full time, I'm a carer, take care of my family.

It’s definitely worthwhile, but not everyone has the ability to. I have adhd, and getting rid of things is a mammoth task. Emailing, dealing with people, selling it, putting it online, all add to the cognitive load of the task and mean that I never get rid of the stuff.

I only managed to declutter my own home when I gave myself permission to throw stuff out.

I think when you're overwhelmed with time constraints, lots of stuff to declutter etc, it's tough to make good decisions on every item. We do have a doorstep giveaway in my village once a month where you can just pop stuff on the pavement and people can pick it up as they walk past. I've given a few bits away that way and I'm sure something like fabric would be snapped up.

I have discovered Anglo collections also - you register online and they come round your area once a month ish and collect bags of clothes/toys/electrical goods etc from your doorstep. They aren't a charity but do donate to charity (you can choose from about 4) and it's worth it for me to know that not too much will end up in landfill. They also took away hundreds of boxes of books (sample copies) from my previous work place which was amazing.

There's a charity shop about 15 miles from me and they have little drawers and baskets full of buttons, bits of wool, zips, fabric, thread etc. A great treasure throve for anyone into crafting.

There's a village about 6 miles from me that does a massive yarn bomb event in the summer and there's about 50-60 big displays, on a theme and dotted about, mostly in the village centre and a few more dotted about. They will take donations of yarn, even a small amount as they use a lot of bunting made from knitted/crocheted bits and pom poms hanging in trees.

Sometimes you just don't want the hassle of trying to sell/donate every single thing. I am in the process of clearing out a house - it is extremely time consuming. A lot of stuff has gone to charity shops. This means a trip down to my parents house, collecting items, filling my car and then bringing it all back to my house in order to take it to the charity shops. The charity shops down there don't have any parking nearby.

I have given some bits to local cafes such as china etc. If it is the recycling centre I think it is they have a great shop where stuff that is too good to chuck can go. She was having a good look at my embroidered tablecloths but couldn't think of anything to do with them.

I sell what I can on Vinted. DH got made redundant a while back, so we need every penny we can get! Most clothes, some books & toys, few other bits. I try FB & Gumtree to sell bigger items. It can take a while, couple of months maybe, but it's successful around half the time.

Other than that, anything we don't want that is still useable, we put at the end of our drive. Most stuff goes eventually. We also get stuff from other people's drives - a nice footstool, an office chair for DS1's & a set of shelves we are using as a shoe rack, recently! It's a great way to recycle.

It honestly wouldn’t occur to me that a school or nursery would want a bag of fabric and buttons from a stranger. I’d have assumed they usually have specific art projects on the curriculum which they organise materials for and nowhere to store superfluous stuff which isn’t going to be used any time soon.

Having volunteered in one charity shop doesn’t give you any insight into what other charity shops do and don’t accept as donations. I’ve given up with them, following several occasions of having called in advance to ask if they accept X, Y, Z only to be told, after carting it up, that actually the manager has said they don’t or they’re not accepting anything today.

I agree that giving perfectly good things away is a lot harder than it ought to be. We recently suffered several family bereavements and donating their goods and chattels was a full time job, involving much frustration, for months.

I had the same dining table that was on the show, it also had a couple of extra leaves so could seat 12 - I sold mine 😁 I don't get why you would take it to the tip.

Also, as someone who sews, chucking fabric and buttons, well that was just shocking. It did make me wonder whether I should start making dog bandanas though. 😅

Totally agree with you @Misthios , i just watched it too and thought the same thing.

Many years ago Misthios, the local tip had an area where you could put out/rummage treasures! I 'scored' a water feature, ercol chair frame, a beautiful huge mirror as well as little finds!
Sadly no longer allowed, maybe health & safety?
Sometimes I came home with more in the boot than I took

Almost forgot my dh’s favourite find. A shark hoover in almost brand new condition. He loves that hoover

When my late DGM went into a care home for the last 14 months of her life, my parents and aunt cleared out her bungalow which was a housing assoc/council one. My aunt was for chucking all the food out - tins, packs, jars when it was still usable. My parents took the food and used it. Things that either them or myself don't eat - tinned salmon (typical old dear food) and a few other bits - I took them to the food bank bin at my work.

We’ve also been able to give my dd an iPhone 12….no cracked screen or breaks anywhere, completely unlocked.

We’ve pretty much kitted our house out from the local tip. My dh is manager there.

We’ve had rugs in brand new conditions, solid oak furniture, brand new laundry detergent and stuff like that.

it’s mental

My DF was at the tip about 2 months ago and he saw a member of tip staff climbing into the paper skip and retrieving about 30 paperbacks - all fiction. He told DF he was going to take them to the charity shop.. CS would probably get £20-40 for them, depending on which one tip guy donates them to etc.

Some charity shops need to get a reality check. Saw in one last year, a guide book to Yugoslavia! WTF? Most under 30 would not know about Yugoslavia. When people did go to Yugoslavia on holidays, its more likely they went to the now Croatia.

The recycling centre don't landfill clothes/yarn etc, they sell it and it is shredded into filling for stiff like car seats

Depends where you lurk. I knit and sew. People sell half balls of yarn and half yards if fabric but some stuff is too small to make even pants or mittens and there is only so much of this stuff you can store as scraps for stuffing.

I recycle mine.

If You can link any of these organisations with their guidelines I'd be happy to reach out to my local ones. I just assumed a lot of mine was a choking hazard.

As a Cub leader...
If we were planning a sewing project, we might be increasing in a box of fabric or buttons. Otherwise... where would we store it on the off chance?
And we have our own premises. Lots if Guide/Scout groups don't. They might have a cupboard. I used to store everything in my attic and have to get it down weekly... flags, craft stuff, tools, cooking stuff... even tents sometimes.

I absolutely donate saleable items to charity

But what you’re describing- bits of fabric and buttons - are much harder to donate. I had a large collection of identical small plastic bottles, you’d think someone would want them but I tried a couple of nurseries and they said no- didn’t have an immediate use for them and didn’t have anywhere to store them in the meantime. Same story for fabric samples.

I suspect a lot of places say no automatically as they are wary of being used as a dumping ground.

Our council picks up old furniture for a fee, clothes go in the clothes recycling bin at supermarket carpark.

@Ellemeg82 I was at our local recycling centre when they were filming. I didn't know about it in advance. However she wasn't interested in my old curtains!

I live abroad and really struggle to give away things. Almost no charity shops here. Clothing and textiles are easy to get rid of (donate) but furniture is a nightmare.

We contacted a charity to collect some furniture. Took 3 weeks to actually get in contact with them. Then another 5 before they collected. And when they did collect the guy was not impressed at all with what we were donating. He d been told a sofa and chairs and we were donating bookcases and a wardrobe. After arguments and him calling his boss, he eventually agreed to take them (they were in perfect condition we were just moving somewhere with inbuilt storage). But then he tried to also take our sofa!!! We had to physically stand in front of it and refuse. It was really unpleasant.

Childrens books are fortunately easy to donate - they go to school. Adult books - there is nowhere here that takes them.

I recently sorted out my boys clothes, both in men's. I listed things on gumtree for free, 6 tracksuit, all medium, 2 brand new and 4 worn. Nike, northface and another brand. 3 logo tshirts and 3 pairs of Nike trainers. I had so many people asking to just collect the lot despite me saying please only have a couple of things as I knew the items were good, and wanted ut to be fair. Had people telling me that were coming right their and then. I also said when id be in. People telling me they wanted items but I'd have to drop them off, no please or thank you. I took them all off apart from 1 tracksuit and pair of trainers that went, to a lovely lady. Now all sat in cupboard under stairs. Yes I could take to clothes bank but the local one isn't that local. Yes theirs charity shops but they like you to book a appointment so they can go through the bags your donating.