Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU just to chuck it all in the bin?

300 replies

fedupwithit8 · 28/09/2021 23:43

I have two kids under three, have been living in a pigsty for years and am desperate to declutter and live in a more orderly house. I finally got round to sorting out the babies stuff and have a huge pile of things we don’t need anymore - including clothes they’ve grown out of, toys they no longer use, random bits and pieces like car seat inserts, pram seat connectors and more.

I’m desperate to have a clearer, tidier house as we’re wallowing in crap we don’t use. But I simply don’t have time to sort it all out properly and take it to the appropriate places like the charity shop, the dump etc. I’ve been meaning to for months and it’s never happened because we’re just so busy.

AIBU to just shove it all in 5-6 bin bags and get rid? Or should I really try to sort it all properly and dispose of it in better ways so other could potentially make use of it?

OP posts:
SusieBob · 29/09/2021 10:16

We desperately need to move away from a culture of binning perfectly usable things just because we can't be arsed to spend 10 minutes sorting it. Which is literally all it would take to sort it roughly into groups of stuff and stick a few pictures up on FB etc for people to collect.

Grellbunt · 29/09/2021 10:18

People need to stop poling on the OP for a few bags of baby stuff wasted - direct your ire at governments, huge corporations and marketing execs who waste much more allowing products that nobody needs in excessive amounts of packaging to be manufactured, shipped and sold.

Rosiesmydog · 29/09/2021 10:23

Our recycling centre has a shop where they sell all sorts that are deemed re sellable. I regularly take stuff down there.

SkeletonSkins · 29/09/2021 10:26

Right this is what I do in these scenarios. I dump it all in my front garden and post some photos on fb sites saying ‘free to whoever wants it in front garden if 12 smith street’ or whatever. I ignore messages asking me to keep stuff for them etc cause it’s a hassle, whoever gets there first gets it. People come and take what they want and then I take whatever is left to the tip at the end of the day. Job done.

I totally feel you though. We had to empty our kitchen in a day and we threw out loads of stuff that could technically have been rehome like frozen food and stuff that needed a clean but I just didn’t have the time for it. I think sometimes you can give yourself a free pass.

Sojo88 · 29/09/2021 10:29

Sorry YWBU to just chuck it all. It sounds like lots of people could make use of the things you have, and so much stuff can be recycled now too. I can't stand the thought of so much going into landfill! I would recommend you sort through everything at your own pace, don't put pressure on yourself and don't let it stress you out. I also think you'd feel better for sorting it than chucking it.

Mayhemmumma · 29/09/2021 10:31

Stick decent clothes in a charity bin at a supermarket.

Bin the rest

TreeSmuggler · 29/09/2021 10:36

We desperately need to move away from a culture of binning perfectly usable things just because we can't be arsed to spend 10 minutes sorting it.

No, we desperately need to move away from a culture of creating so much stuff. Once it's raw materials are extracted, it's created, shipped around the world and purchased, the damage is done. If anything, the idea that we can buy any amount of stuff and its fine so long at some point we dump it at a charity shop (for them to bin) or leave it on the street "free to a good home" (ie fly tipping).

If you have to throw something out, that's what you have to do. Sit with that guilt and use it to guide you in more sensible purchases next time. If it's something you really really needed and there was no alternative, or it's something second hand as OP has, no need to feel guilty.

Grellbunt · 29/09/2021 10:46

We are talking 5-6 bags here, people. Of stuff that OP needed and used for her kids.

Get a grip.

As many people have pointed out it's the creation and purchase of crap that needs to stop and I bet lots of the holier than thou posters on here are guilty as charged on that score.

SusieBob · 29/09/2021 10:51

@TreeSmuggler

We desperately need to move away from a culture of binning perfectly usable things just because we can't be arsed to spend 10 minutes sorting it.

No, we desperately need to move away from a culture of creating so much stuff. Once it's raw materials are extracted, it's created, shipped around the world and purchased, the damage is done. If anything, the idea that we can buy any amount of stuff and its fine so long at some point we dump it at a charity shop (for them to bin) or leave it on the street "free to a good home" (ie fly tipping).

If you have to throw something out, that's what you have to do. Sit with that guilt and use it to guide you in more sensible purchases next time. If it's something you really really needed and there was no alternative, or it's something second hand as OP has, no need to feel guilty.

Or.... we could do both.

Yes, people do buy stuff unncessarily and that needs to stop.

It doesn't stop people from responsibily reusing/recycling things they have used rather than just going "ah fuck it" and dumping perfectly usable toys/clothes etc. That's just a lazy cop out, just like people who blaim everything on Asda over-packaging things. Everybody needs to make changes at all stages, rather than just picking a few easy things to change and forgetting about the rest.

hangrylady · 29/09/2021 10:52

Take the clothes to a clothes recycling bank at the local tip. Any decent toys/bits I would put outside my house with a sign saying Free. Anything left over bin it.

DifferentHair · 29/09/2021 10:56

I'm a little bit tired of people using concepts of 'mental health' or wellbeing' as a smoke screen for selfish and lazy choices.

Sometimes we have a responsibility to do things that are boring and tedious even when we would feel better in the short term if we didn't do them.

Alwayscheerful · 29/09/2021 10:57

List free on Olio app, (non food items)
or list free on marketplace and Facebook local groups.
label bags and leave on your doorstep for no contact collections.

Or fill the car and take it to your nearest Charity recycling skip, we have an air ambulance one for bags and shoes, clothes and curtains and bed linen.

Or just bag it all up,in bin liners and put it in the garage for a few months it much less painful to get rid of it when you have forgotten what is in the bags.

Alwayscheerful · 29/09/2021 11:03

Sorry i
Just realised it's only 5/6 bags, sort it, give away anything usable and throw away any junk, don't buy more junk.

Vindo · 29/09/2021 11:04

Start by Chucking all the clothes, shoes and textiles in black bags. Don't worry about if they will be usable or not. The big charities can sometimes get a bit of money for recycling fabric.

Forget eBay it's too much hassle if you don't have the headspace for it, and I've had loads of time wasters on buy and sell sites.

Strawbsaturno · 29/09/2021 11:06

Honestly I’d bin it, if you take it to the tip they ask you to sort plastic, woods, electrical etc, then they recycle what they can. The rest just goes in ‘general waste’.

Flickeringgreenlight · 29/09/2021 11:10

BIN IT! I've done it and the relief afterwards was unbelievable. No more agonising, no more trying to sort it. Sure, someone somewhere could have made good use of them but sometimes it's just not possible to sort it all out. YANBU

mydogisthebest · 29/09/2021 11:12

[quote HaveringWavering]@mydogisthebest our tip is a recycling centre, so the stuff only goes to landfill if it can’t be recycled. Are they not all like that? You just sort into material type and chuck in the appropriate skip.[/quote]
No our local tip is not a recycling centre. I didn't realise any were. They should all be really

imagen · 29/09/2021 11:13

@TreeSmuggler

We desperately need to move away from a culture of binning perfectly usable things just because we can't be arsed to spend 10 minutes sorting it.

No, we desperately need to move away from a culture of creating so much stuff. Once it's raw materials are extracted, it's created, shipped around the world and purchased, the damage is done. If anything, the idea that we can buy any amount of stuff and its fine so long at some point we dump it at a charity shop (for them to bin) or leave it on the street "free to a good home" (ie fly tipping).

If you have to throw something out, that's what you have to do. Sit with that guilt and use it to guide you in more sensible purchases next time. If it's something you really really needed and there was no alternative, or it's something second hand as OP has, no need to feel guilty.

We can work on both. Less consumption and less waste

And most stuff really doesn't to have to be thrown out if you can be bothered to take 10 minutes out of your day to drive to a clothing/textile recycling bank

mydogisthebest · 29/09/2021 11:15

@Grellbunt

We are talking 5-6 bags here, people. Of stuff that OP needed and used for her kids.

Get a grip.

As many people have pointed out it's the creation and purchase of crap that needs to stop and I bet lots of the holier than thou posters on here are guilty as charged on that score.

But if we all threw ONLY 5-6 bags of stuff away that amounts to an awful lot of stuff being thrown.

We ALL need to care about the future of the planet and stop buying loads of stuff but also when we are finished with it stop just throwing it away.

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 29/09/2021 11:19

Go through and sort into rubbish, recycling, charity shop bags and get rid today. Separate clothes and take to clothing bin. You’ll feel better and someone else will benefit.

EveningOverRooftops · 29/09/2021 11:20

Sort it into appropriate bags.

Offer for free on Facebook market place.

Bin the stuff than is beyond hope.

It’s a pain in the arse, yes, but doing it right will help you, someone else and stop things going to landfill unnecessarily.

inappropriateraspberry · 29/09/2021 11:29

Put a request on a local Facebook page.
I'm sure someone will be willing to help sort it and take away the good stuff. They'll sell it on or may be involved in a charity that can use it/sell it.

BertramLacey · 29/09/2021 12:27

@daytripper28

My answer to that these days is not to buy the stuff in the first place.

Stating the bleedin' obvious or what.

Well apparently not that obvious, or we wouldn't be in the mess we're in, would we?
HeronLanyon · 29/09/2021 12:43

This thread has reminded me of a facility near us when I was a kid. ‘Rotary Barn’ (in the states. In the 60s. Literally a farmers huge open barn with a kind of luggage reclaim rotary track.

Operated as a furniture etc reclaim centre. You could just show up and take anything which was useful to you. My parents furnished whole houses from that circular track and put furniture on it also. Used to be a weekend outing sometimes when we needed stuff or had stuff which was too good to dump. Great idea. As a kid I was just mesmerised by it going round of course. I’d use it now !
Think at the end of each weekend they operators would keep or dump things left or put it to the next session of it was good.

allsorts1 · 29/09/2021 12:46

Maybe just go through and be really strict, anything actually great take out and drop to charity and then everything else to the bin. Fast but less guilt.