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 had a tyre left in the garden when we moved house.
The local nursery wanted tyres (amongst other stuff) to make a gaemrden area. BUT I had to drop it off between 8.30 and 4. I work, fixed hours, 8-4, so impossible. It went to the tip hen I had a week off - wich was a week the schools were closed

Yes, there is stuff that can be re-used. But it has to be accessible.

When I worked at a school we had an overflowing cupboard of scrap fabric and buttons. We never had time to use these in any meaningful projects and staff didn’t have time to use them to run off costumes for plays etc.
Recently had to clear a house, got in touch with 2 charities but neither of them wanted any of it (relatively new 3 piece sofa with reclining footrests type thing, dining table and matching chairs, new beds etc.
If the house was local to me I’d have donated it all to the local charity I know of that gives donated furniture to those in need but I didn’t have the local knowledge and in the end it took me about 15 minutes to ring up and book a clearance company.
With my own stuff, if we no longer need anything I’ll ask friends/family if they could make use and if not it goes at the end of the drive. Someone will always take it.
I do hate waste and the wasteful nature of just binning stuff that but many people are time poor and don’t have hours of time to set aside to driving to various places to donate things.

Please don't dump stuff on schools. Primary teachers don't float from project to project like they perhaps did in 1990; everything is now planned for progression so for art we'll be doing a specific printing technique or watercolours or whatever. Our libraries need to be full of high quality texts, not books from random series like Goosebumps. I know people mean well but unless it's a donation of a consumables like pencils, glue sticks or decent felt tips it just probably won't get used. We have plenty of our own lever arch files we don't need anymore just like everyone else, we don't need more!

The reason charities won't take furniture without safety labels is that they are not allowed to sell it. Charities and charity shops have to meet the same legal standards as any other shop in terms of safety and "fit for purpose". They could be sued if they sold you a sofa which was dangerous in a fire, or a bike helmet which had been damaged, a life jacket without a CE label etc etc.

Now whether or not you think charities should have to adhere to the same rules is another debate, but at present, they have to make sure that everything they sell is safe. That means only accepting donations which are labelled already or paying someone to test it once refurbished.

If you are giving something away though, none of that applies.

I always thought it was fake and people had applied to be on the show with what stuff they wanted to get rid of. So it was all a fix anyway. Maybe I'm wrong though.

The school my daughter goes to loves donations! I always ask before I take stuff in and they snap my hand off for it. They love all sorts of books as children all have a love to read book as well as a reading book so they need all types of books.

They have used donations for after school clubs as well as reception classes etc...... for crafting.

I've just sorted a bag for a doorstep collection but I had 3 pairs of brand new mens cargo shorts and 3 brand new t shirts, too small for my husband. I thought they were too good to put out for the collection so took them to my local charity shop, I was left waiting ages whilst the assistant put clothes on racks then she huffed and puffed but eventually took them, they where Next branded with labels still on!

I find the RSPCA and Cat's Protection are quite good for taking clothes. I won't name the worst ones!

Gosh this is so true. I always found it a pleasant experience until I dared to want to donate some children's toys along with clothes. The person in the shop, pointed at the toys and just said not those and then made a grab for the bags full of clothes.

I ended up feeling so cross with the communication I walked back out with everything. It was the manner not the words or sentiment. I had spent so much time cleaning and making sure the toys were complete I deserved something nicer like 'so sorry we aren't able to take toys because of x y z"

Never again all goes on marketplace now for free

In Amsterdam if you want to get rid of things (all sorts) you put them out on Thursdays and if people want them they take them. If they don’t they get collected. Dd lives there and has got quite a few things.

Are you sure the local school or Brownies would want a donation of fabric and sewing material?

They usually give the kids a very specific piece of work to do, which requires the same materials.

They don't just tell the kids to dive into a big of fabric and do what they want.

RE: just throwing stuff away. I am trying to get my mum to clear things out. It is a nightmare with here saying "oh, I could donate this, to so and so, but then there is some reason or other why she can't donate".

If you value your time, it is often better to just take action and go to the tip.

I live in Brixton, and if you leave stuff out on the street it just magically goes.

Next door neighbour was having their hallway painted, and her front door was swiped when her builder took it off the hinges and propped it up outside to paint it. They must have come round in a van and loaded up. She wasn’t impressed.

On the plus side, our manky old bashed up bathroom suite went when our fitter left it out on the pavement (he was due to take it to the tip at the end of the day, somebody took it off our hands while he was in the house). He was pretty pleased about that, saved him the tip fees.

I do feel a bit disheartened when I have no choice but to give things to the charity shop as money tight for me .I don't like clutter as it messes with my motivation seeing the storage cupboard full to the brim of stuff we don't use or won't fit us,gives me anxiety and most of the clothes been worn once or have the labels on the Luckily I live downstairs to a charity shop and there is one around the corner aswel,they do take furniture even without fire labels on them.

We have loads of charity shops nearby, plus yard sales and people post on Facebook with free or v cheap. It’s really easy to get rid of things you don’t want. Failing that, people leave stuff outside their house and passers by take it. I do feel grateful it’s so easy as I’d hate to chuck it out. I’m in a city - I’m sure it’s v area dependent.

I've even been able to get rid of eg half a bag of coffee beans that I didn’t like. It’s great!

I've always thought the same. Everything seems very staged.

Same with the finished products like that metal working Scottish guy - I'm convinced they work backwards from commissioned pieces and find bits of metal for a specific piece of work in mind. There's no way he's really just making random pieces and then selling them for the kind of money they're said to sell for!

If you live near a university with "on campus" accommodation, most have shipping containers in June/July each year where students are encouraged to put their used/unwanted items such as bedding, kitchen utensils, small electricals, clothes, fancy dress, even unopened "in date" foods such as tins and packets. Then the student union sort it all and have stands to sell it to the new intake of students in September during Fresher's week. Nothing to stop you taking a car load of stuff and putting it in their containers as long as it's sellable and the sort of thing that students may want.

We found that out when our son went to Uni and we helped him "empty" his flat at the end of the first year - it was amazing to see what others had put into the containers, including huge cuddly toys, hair dryers/tongues, a small fridge, a TV, bean bags, office chair, all kinds of clothes, duvets, sheets, mattress toppers, and a stack of packets of cereal/pasta, small mountain of tins of soups/beans, cleaning supplies, etc.

When he moved out of his second and third year flats, which weren't on campus, we still took a few things up to the Uni in our car to drop off, and as we have a campus a few miles from where we live, we've continued to do it ever since.

At least you know it's likely to go to a good home and the monies raised will be used for a good cause, ie student union, rather than risking it ending up in landfill. Re small electricals, the Uni have their own PAT testing facility for students taking their own electrical stuff to Uni with them (not allowed in their rooms unless PAT tested), so the donated electrical stuff gets tested by the Uni's own facility, hence why they encourage donations of electrical stuff as they have the means to check it over prior to sale.