Do you throw toys and clothing away?

[painfullyshywhy]

I give everything to the charity shop or ask around or try to sell online (but that is so time consuming I don't bother anymore unless the item is brand new with tags) and I just can't stand the thought of good stuff being chucked in the bin.

Now, my parents are serial thrower away-ers eyeroll and my younger sister actually threw away a massive bag of fairly trendy clothing including a cardigan that my mum thought I had borrowed and she had given me a real telling off for losing it. I never borrowed it dsis had nicked it and then thrown it away instead of giving it back to dmum who lives with her! she could have put it outside her bedroom door but instead she black bagged it ready for the tip!
My old lego sets were all dumped even though I asked if I could have them for my kids when my siblings were too old for them. The same with my old guitars which I tried to bring home but was stopped because dsis wanted to learn. dumped mere weeks later.
Why do they do this?
I just can't understand why someone would throw away good stuff especially when people have shown an interest in having it! especially your own child or grandchildren!

It makes me so mad!

Another relative asked if I wanted any clothes for ds and dd as they are having a sort through. I said yes ill come to pick the bags up on xxx day. got there and they had thrown them in the bin as bin day is Tuesday and you said you'd come on Wednesday.
just tell me! or don't tell me because now I know a big black bag of good clothes are rotting in landfill instead of being reused.

I see bin bags of good stuff and toys being thrown out on my street daily. (everyone uses a little green area as a dumping ground and the council collects every 4 weeks or so) and I just don't have the space to save it all!

The cost of some things, to throw it in the bin, sometimes not even used... it blows my mind! I don't know how people can do it.

I know I sound preachy but it just feels cruel. my family know how much it upsets me, and its like they revel in telling me what they've thrown away.
The kicker is that they have about 6 charity shops and a shelter to pass before they get to the dump. and I have said I will come and get whatever you're throwing away and take it to the charity shop or give to friends children who are the same age or have xxx interests.
I don't understand it. this is more of a rant but. I needed to get it off my chest before I ring my parents up and explode!

@emilyfrost

YABU. If I paid for it it’s mine to do with I want with.

I pretty much throw everything away when we’re done with it because I can’t be arsed sorting it/storing it/taking it to charity etc.

But why? Couldn’t you even find five things you could drop off at a charity shop? Then it would be like you donated them a tenner, or whatever. You’d rather just bun it than help the RSPCA or Cancer Research? Even if you don’t care about the environment I don’t get this attitude.

I shwop all old clothes and household fabrics at M&S. They do all the sorting for you so good stuff gets sold (Oxfam), wearable but not saleable here gets shipped to developing country/ies and rags get recycled. Nothing goes to landfill and I don’t have to agonise over whether things are good enough for a shop.
(I tend to wear my clothes to destruction so not much makes the grade I suspect!)
Not sure, but I think H&M have a similar scheme plus vouchers for every bag donated.

@SixDegrees

How much of a hassle can it be to put stuff in a bag and take to a charity shop Vs putting stuff in a bag and taking it to the tip?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s a 5-10 minute drive to the tip that’s open 6 days a week and takes anything, Vs a 30 minute drive to the charity shop, plus the added hassle of having to arrange an appointment at the charity shop in advance to drop off the donations.

Wow a whole extra 20 minutes and a telephone call. Every month or so. Sounds exhausting You do realise we have literally one planet?!

I gave to charity shop and sometimes sell on line.
Few bigger toys that aren't in great condition I put up on gumtree "free for anyone who wants to pick it up". Usually get someone happy to take things, u just don't know who is in need and really appreciate it.

@Moulesvinrouge1

Wow a whole extra 20 minutes and a telephone call. Every month or so. Sounds exhausting You do realise we have literally one planet?!

I do take things to the charity shop rather than the tip (provided they’re decent enough quality to be sold).
Just saying it’s more hassle than the tip. Plus, it’s an extra 20 minutes for a one way trip. It’s an extra 40 minutes once the trip home’s taken into account.

icollectclothes literally does what is says in the title.

but it's an absolute con. Charities receive a few quid per TON of clothes donated.

My own clothes are worn till they are worn out. Then to the textile bins in the tip.
Little one's clothes and toys I have tried selling them and donating them. But some stuff no one will take. So ends in the tip.
And I'm talking not only second hand clothes. An expensive high chair from John Lewis, only used a couple of months, not even charity shop would take it. Tried Facebook local groups (for free!) and her nursery. Nada! Ended in the tip.

Mine all go in the Salvation Army bin. Apart from kids undies that go in the bin

@freakyfridays

icollectclothes literally does what is says in the title.

but it's an absolute con. Charities receive a few quid per TON of clothes donated.

Yes all these things are far worse than donating directly to a charity.

But if the alternative is throwing in landfill...

I wonder if some people on this thread have visited a "tip" in the last twenty years. These days it's called a "Recycling Centre". I find the guys there are very efficient at relieving me of any resalable items and directing me to appropriate recycling container for everything else.

Years ago when DS was young we did car boot sales for toys and children's clothes, nowadays we use supermarket charity bins for clothes and the air ambulance charity bag takes non clothing items

@EdwardTeach

I wonder if some people on this thread have visited a "tip" in the last twenty years. These days it's called a "Recycling Centre". I find the guys there are very efficient at relieving me of any resalable items and directing me to appropriate recycling container for everything else.

It's a fair point, but not a lot of people won't have, they're either already recycling stuff or just literally throwing it in their wheels bin by the sounds of it.

@BabyhereBabythere

I used to sort things and sell/giveaway or donate to the charity shop Ended up being HUGE amounts of hassle so everything goes to the tip now

What a shame, imagine if everyone did this

icollectclothes literally does what is says in the title.

but it's an absolute con. Charities receive a few quid per TON of clothes donated.

Yes all these things are far worse than donating directly to a charity.

But if the alternative is throwing in landfill...

Exactly that. I'm not in this from a charity make money point of view, if I want to donate to charity I'll give money.

It's literally about recycling and things not going in the bin. I don't care if other people make money out of my stuff (when I haven't bothered to) as long as it's reused!

Very very rarely throw away anything.

We had a pile of old towels we had kept for pets/ diy/ cleaning and had too many. Just put a box outside on driveway yesterday labelling as ‘old towels - FREE - please help yourself’. They were all gone by the end of the day. ( about 10 of them).

@freakyfridays

You don't know any charity shops that open weekends? Really?

you don't know people who work weekends? really?

Yes but not many people work 7 days a week every week and if they do their partners tend not to. Charity shops are also open 7 days a week.

@freakyfridays

icollectclothes literally does what is says in the title.

but it's an absolute con. Charities receive a few quid per TON of clothes donated.

But better than in landfill.

your stuff gets passed on, someone isn't in the job centre looking for work, your clothes aren't going into landfill.

I usually give black bags full of clothes to charity shops a few times a year. While the shops were closed due to covid I left two big bags on my porch ready to go, we never lock the porch door at night and someone actually stole them overnight! I was just happy to have them gone.

I'm mainly jealous people have so much bin space!!

Do the binners think landfill space will never be an issue or just not their problem as in its the Govts responsibility / they'll be dead and screw the next generations?

Shop is doing well, @Ragwort. The initial donation deluge appears to have slowed but the impact of being closed so much over the last year is hitting us hard - we don't have the bags of summer stock which we would have stored usually. Usually in the 8 weeks after Christmas we store up boxes and boxes of donated Christmas decorations and other items and we now have very little, so come December we'll not have much to sell.

But we've installed a crafty/sewing themed window to tie in with the Charity Shop week on Sewing Bee and it's going well.

my local charity shop sorts donations into what they can sell in the shop and what will have to be sold as rags - but they're making money from it all in some way. They are VERY impressed if you have bagged items you know will be rags separately

I use the old stuff for rags for cleaning at home.
There is always a DC living near for hand down clothes and toys.
I've 2 bags, one family is not interested in sport labels they get my H&M stuff and another boy gets the brand name hand downs.
I'd a bad experience selling online locally it is not worthwhile for haggle or hassle at your door.
I don't support charity shops anymore living in a WC area the charity shop provided cheap clothing, it helped communities and store, they mark up the price above what the item is worth.
I'd rather give it direct for free.

I'll take my best bored of clothing to charity but during lockdown that was not an option neither were outside clothing banks which were also closed off, giving them away didn't seem right as a chance of corona virus contamination, I had a bf that I broke up with that left a lot of clothes at mine and refused to collect I took them to the tip and along with other stuff I had been meaning to get rid of because I had the time.
The tip will recycle what they can if you put it in the correct place.

OP it sounds like you have a problem with your family? Why would they chuck stuff away that you want, unless it’s a kind of fuck you?

Do you always pick up stuff at the earliest opportunity? It seems bizarre that your relative chucked stuff as bin day was Tues and you were coming on Wednesday. Did they know you were coming? We’re they messing with you, again as a kind of fuck you?

Things get used to the end of their life here and then down cycled (into rags for cloths or fabric for crafting etc)

If it's something that doesn't get used to end of life I do everything possible to stop it going into landfill. Landfill is the last resort.

Sometimes I am defeated though and landfill is the only option. So now I'm trying to stop consuming items in the first place.

DC have been told no more toys. (Almost 15 and almost 11 though). I'll keep some special toys for possible grandchildren. Everything else will be donated somewhere, somehow. It's all in one piece and in good condition.