to think “decluttering” isn’t actually that simple if you want to dispose responsibly?

I stick it all on local selling sites for free. It is amazing what people want. I've had things that are broken and ruined being taken by someone who wanted them for an art project for example. People take old glass jars for shabby chic weddings etc.

Always brimming full never emptied. Just like the bottle banks next to them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ppwr

There was a good radio 4 segment on decluttering yesterday that I thought was interesting

YANBU book a skip and dump it.

just this week I have had a skip taken away full of clothes (so.many.clothes), indoor furniture, old blinds and curtains, garden chairs, handbags, all my stilettos (goodbye my 20s), cushions, random bits of home decor, broken suitcase....

Cancer Research UK have superstores in many cities - often in a retail park so better parking, and they are unlikely to turn away donations.

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/ways-to-shop/superstores

Re. not buying stuff in the first place. I have to say that having not lived in the UK for 20 odd years, its very striking how cheap ‘stuff’ is and how much people do buy. It’s changing now in France but it’s only very recently that ‘tat’ shops have appeared, ones that have been in the UK for years - B&M, Home Bargains etc. Places like The Range don’t really exist. There are some real cheap and cheerful places, they mostly sell toiletries and weird things like Irn Bru 🤷‍♀️(Action. Normal) etc. Most household ‘stuff’ is still relatively more expensive here, and I think more people would tend to buy quality that lasts, rather than new cushion covers every season.

What’s wrong with using the clothes recycling bins outside Tesco?

I’m in France and our local déchèterie takes pretty much everything. I divide it as I declutter and then it’s very easy to get rid of correctly:

paper
cardboard
wood
metal
furniture and mattresses
garden waste
gravats (mostly building waste / plaster / concrete / terracotta/ tiles)
everything else - mostly non recycled plastics, which do go to landfill.

there’s a separate cabine / shed where you can deposit:
cooking oil
paint / other chemicals
lightbulbs
batteries
small electric goods
large white goods

there are also clothes / linen recycling bins and even a place where you can leave charity donations for Emmaus - books, toys, kitchen equipment, ornaments, games, sport gear etc etc, which saves a trip.

its excellent, a real one stop shop.

If you’re concerned about the environment, yes, quite a bit of it probably is.

No, non working.
If they are things like toasters the rag and bone men will take them. It’s small crap like lights that took batteries that don’t work, broken toys.
I need to charge and wipe a tablet so I can get rid of that, I was going to take it to a scheme at the library but they want so much information about the tablet (type, age, operating system) I’ve lost interest because I don’t know, it’s a tablet!

We take books to the National Trust when we visit, they always want them for their bookshops

It drives me mad.

Also the pressure to 'sell stuff on vinted"😫.

I had a bag of about 10 pairs of Nike joggers that had sat in my dining room for about a year.

On Sunday I finally decided that I was never going to sell them and they just needed to go to the charity shop. No where would take them and I ended up putting them in a clothes recycling bin

I felt guilty but very liberated .

Can anyone advise me what to do with old mobiles (smart and non-smart) that have broken screens? None of them turn on and also haven't been wiped so could have loads of photos, phone numbers and and other stuff in them.

I have a drawer full from the last 30 years. How do I safely dispose of them without the risk of someone stealing data?

If the small electricals still work, just leave them by the big bins - someone will take them home.

I agree OP. I can’t stand not even trying to try to find a need for whatever. It’s not about getting money for whatever but trying to get reuse. I thought I’d found an online place to take all my unwanted DVDs, but even there not all items were wanted, so I’ve ended up trying several places. Charity shop doesn’t meant them. I buy a lot on eBay so sell stuff there as I like the idea of someone enjoying whatever it is, but it does take time.

I eBay as I go along.

What is "properly recycling" though @Toothfairy89 ?

Most of what you "recycle" will end up in landfill. Even if it goes via someone on Facebook market place. Or via Cancer research UK, or a carboot sale. If your lucky it'll end up on a Ghanaian beach

Studies show the easier it is to "recycle" the less people care about buying shit and so the more they buy. We should put some effort into disposing of our stuff

I think it's also important to remember that if it's really hard to find somewhere to repurpose the item, that's probably because it's not really repurposeable. No one wants your shit.

What's done is done in terms of what you already own, but decluttering shouldn't be a regular occurance and it's no bad thing to put some effort into properly recycling, reducing your impact, especially if it makes you think and buy less next time

People don't miss out. They set rules like that because they get mountains of donations of stained unusable clothes, and they don't need them. If they were struggling with donations I'm sure they would change their rules

Charity shops are picky because most of the crap we donate doesn't sell. Charitys are not waste disposal units

Most of the clothes that we donate to charity or recycle end up in landfill abroad. It might make you feel good to "recycle" your stained baby clothes, but they will just get dumped

I’m currently trying to fit in going to dunelm to take some old textiles.
I hate our tip, you still have to book in and they don’t a proper place for small electricals, so you have to wander round trying to find a member of staff to take them.

Get rid of it all in one day at a boot fair. Take any price offered.

I have done this only once, it was fun! I said to my children who helped get the items ready, car packed and items sold that any money raised (as it was mainly their old clothes and toys) they get to keep and spend in the Harry Potter world gift shop.

Got rid of everything, had a fun new experience and the ‘expensive’ gift shop felt free!

Op I get it, especially for people without a car, it must be a nightmare.

We have far too much stuff in our house, and trying to de-clutter is easier said than done.
Time, places to get rid of stuff.

Batteries are fairly easy, anywhere that sells them must recycle them.

We are lucky. Our local tip is really well set up for recycling and also has a reuse section where things are sorted and sold on site.