Getting rid of things sustainably is bloody hard work

Unfortunately I’m not in the uk so can’t go to John Lewis, I’ll try to find a charity nearby.

https://sell.worldofbooks.com/en-gb

This website makes it very easy to scan your books and send them to them. You don’t get very much per book, but I’ve used it to rehome some old text books which would be a bit too niche for a charity shop but which I’ve felt unable to throw away

I was thinking about this earlier as I have been decluttering. Options to get rid of stuff responsibly seem to vary a lot depending on location.
In case this helps anyone:
clean, old towels are welcomed by our vet (it’s open long hours, handy for drop off) I’m sure other vets would be similar.
we also have a local rspca centre and they welcome clean towels, bedding and things like unopened dog food as does another dog rescue. RSPCA has collection wheelie bins outside.
bravissimo have donation bins in their shops for bras.
in my area we have very few clothes donation bins but lots of book and shoe bins. Shoes I tie together or use elastic bands and also bag them.
food banks accept unopened toiletries and cosmetics
check if you have a ‘baby bank’ locally for baby items.
we have a school uniform donation place plus a lot of schools (junior or secondary) will accept uniform items just phone first if you want to check. Plus basics like black shorts for p.e.. I’ve also donated excess stationery to schools and on one occasion some brand new black shoes that were a bargain as they were extremely narrow (I put a label on them warning they were narrow!)

Go to a car boot sale but you have to be prepared to sell stuff for virtually nothing and make sure that you don’t buy more stuff whilst you’re there!

It does cost money to sell a car boot, so be warned.

I imagine someone has already suggested Freecycle or Freegle. I’ve had good experiences with Freegle. It’s amazing what stuff some people want, thank goodness..

Freecycle is good. Some time wasters but if you have loads of stuff to go post it all at once & say it must go this weekend. I've even got rid of VHS cassettes!

For books, there are often mini libraries in old phone boxes, churches, community centres etc where you can drop off. Scouts often ask for items for fundraising activities.

We have a local Facebook page for just this ?giving away stuff to reduce landfill). I’m constantly amazed at the stuff people will take as long as it’s free. Obviously really good for people in need. Failing that the local scrappy takes anything metal.

Yes, expulsion of things is work just like acquiring them.

After a similar exercise I could hardly by a pen for several months as I felt so over provisioned.

Put things into bundles (so they are worth a journey ) and offer on Facebook for free. There's very little that nobody will pick up. And try to acquire less in future if possible.

In Amsterdam atm staying with dd, Tuesday mornings things that you don't want go on the curb and anyone can take it. They put out a chair, some shelves and a bag of glasses. All gone. There's even an insta page showing whats available. Anything left is collected by the council that night.

@cheeseomelette

I have used this organisation a number of times, they take a wide variety of stuff (including toiletries and make up)they give you the option of about six charities to support. The best thing for me is that they collect, they are very reliable.

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/about-us/