money for nothing - chucking stuff away

[Misthios]

I do like crafty stuff and upcycling and all that sort of thing and like seeing what people do with things on Money for Nothing.

Today's show - woman pitches up with one of those massive Ikea bags of fabric and a huge cardboard box packed with buttons. Presenter obviously swoops on her and takes it all away to use.

Asks the woman why she is throwing away so much fabric/buttons. Answer - I didn't know what to do with it. SERIOUSLY?? If you don't want to take it to a charity shop, any school, nursery, Brownies/Cubs, afterschool club etc etc would chew your arm off for a donation like that.

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 always think it's incredible the stuff people take to the tip in the first instance, rather than e.g. getting the british heart foundation to pick it up (for bulky furniture)

Agree - I'm not a "disposable" sort of person and have a lot of stuff in this house which is older than me, and would rather mend or refurbish than buy new.

I just don't get the mentality - you have an old chair, or bag of fabric, or table, or some other thing which someone might be able to get use out of and your first thought is that the very best place for that item is in landfill.

It's easier just to throw things out if you don't want them anymore. The trouble with donating them to a charity shop or the other groups you mention is that the experience of giving is often unpleasant. Often they are rude or act like they're doing you a massive favour by taking your donation. If you just throw it away, you don't have that hassle.

Giving stuff away is much harder than you think. I live in a large town and the amount of idiots on freecycle or whisk sites means I gradually give up trying to give it away.
Our tip is actually very good at sorting and recycling so I don't feel quite so bad for taking it there.

Lots of stuff just isn't wanted or suitable.

Many charities have big issues with storage, disposal of unsuitable items or stuff isn't deemed safe for resale / use.

So I agree, chucking it is sadly the easiest way... or give it to the car boot guy a few houses down from us!

Oh I do understand about the time wasters on freecycle and gumtree. But a massive bag of fabric and box of buttons - wouldn't you automatically think of the local school or Brownies?

I recently had a clear out and came across a box of paper from when DD went through a papercraft phase. Took 2 minutes to email the local nursery and another 2 minutes to drop it off next time I was passing. Would take much longer than that to drive to the tip. It's not about the money - I think the whole "look how much you've made" thing of that particular show it a bit disingenuous as they do not factor in transporting a three piece suite or massive dining table from Surrey to Aberdeen.

It just boggles my mind that the default setting for so many people is landfill.

Charity shops don't want tatty books or clothes and lots isn't worth donating. They'll also only take pristine furniture around us.

You sound judgemental.

I’m in a local fb womens group which is just for giving stuff away. It’s very useful.

It takes time and effort to give things away, and everyone's time is money. It's even hard to take things to a charity shop as they don't want things left outside and then their opening hours mean you can't get there if you work and commute and have weekend commitments. Getting in touch with a school or voluntary organisation is hard work as they are too busy to pick up the phone or respond to emails and won't let you past the gates if you're not a parent, and then they get sniffy about the condition things are in, or storage space. Freecycle and FB are full of CFs who arrange a pickup then don't turn up. Definitely less work to just chuck it, you just leave out it in your bin on a normal bin day, which you have to do anyway with normal rubbish.

BHF are really fussy, it has to still have all the right labels on, they can only pick up on certain days and times etc etc. Its not as easy as just saying right come and pick this up.

I sell clothes on Vinted and other items on Marketplace. If I can't sell them then they go in a charity bag and anglo doorstep collections come and take the donations away. It's very simple, they have a website and you book your slot.

Big pieces of furniture are harder as they don't always sell although some up cyclers will take them.

Old bikes, household goods with metal and things go outside the front and the scrap man swoops in and takes them away.

I think some if the items being 'thrown away' are a fix! I'm sure they must tell locals that they're going to be there so they rock up with their 5 'design classic' Ercol chairs (when Mum had them there were 6 but we're clearing her house and can only find 5 sort of thing).....

I know what charity shops do and don't want, as I've volunteered in one for 10 years!!

I will admit to being judgemental as personally I think it is definitely worth taking the time and making the effort to repurpose or give stuff away, or even recycle your old books and jigsaws with bits missing rather than just chucking stuff into landfill as the default setting.

True, and to be fair we have always just shifted furniture through fb marketplace/gumtree or freecycle. It can sometimes take a while/forever (looking at the paving slabs piled up in our garden...)

The BBC advertise when they'll be there. Therefore people take stuff there to "dump" it but know they'll potentially get picked for the show.

It’s nice in theory and I do try to recycle as much as I can but when you have rude people demanding something, people not turning up to collect it, furniture that charities don’t want because it’s not in fashion it can be hard. A friend of mine had to pay for someone to take away a mahogany table recently because nobody wants dark wood even for free.

Our local charity shops are very picky. If clothes aren't new with tags, they don't want them. Furniture must be under 10 years old and have the safety / fire labels attached.

If you try and sell or giveaway on FB, you get a load of very unwelcome personal messages...

The schools don't want anything (since Covid) other than pipng, tyres and soil for the garden.

Old stuff goes to the tip. Regretfully.

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.

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.

@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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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