to think “decluttering” isn’t actually that simple if you want to dispose responsibly?

[HazelMember]

Everyone says “just have a clear-out” like it’s a quick job. But if you don’t want to chuck everything in landfill, it’s a whole logistical exercise:

Electrical items have to be recycled.
Dead batteries need to be recycled.
Charity shops are harder and harder to park near. My local charity shops are closing down and others will only take certain items.
My local homeless charity that are kitting out temporary homes will not take new bedding. Only cash.
Some places won’t take certain clothes, toys or household items.

So you end up with piles of “good” stuff sitting around while you work out where it can actually go.

Did you read the small print?

Waste batteries including rechargeable batteries are taken back free of charge.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is taken back free of charge on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis

When we downsized we had to de clutter, ebayed, charity the way forward is to stop adding to it and buying tat that ends up in landfill.
Noone has to keep buying shit and constantly upgrading phones and electricals.

Yes I agree, as I can't bring myself to 'bin' anything that could have any kind of afterlife. But, it doesn't mean de-cluttering can't be done, it's just more of a process than an event.
My best revelation in recent years has been the ease of giving things away (not selling) on local 'giving stuff away' facebook groups. E.g. box of Beano annuals / rice cooker / sports equipment...these all went quickly to people who seemed genuinely pleased with them.
I prefer that to dumping on 2nd hand shops now - love the self satisfied (smug?!) glow it gives me! Obviously, not everything can be moved on like this, but I've been surprised at what people will come and get.

Olio is brilliant for a clear out, and people will often take things charity shops would refuse

Anglo was a gamechanger for us. So straightforward and they take loads of stuff and aren't picky. Can't be bothered with charity shops - too picky, too sneery, too difficult to park.

Most of the retailers only take small electricals if you are buying a new one. But Currys, B&Q and John Lewis/Waitrose will take items regardless.

We have a local baby charity which only takes things in new condition. Obviously you wouldn't send things hat are gross but we all know babies clothes get stains. And people miss out.
Other charity shops are stopping taking toys now too which is sad

Our council collect WEEE with out weekly recycling, so we are lucky with that

Those castigating those who find this hard are not helpful at all.

In a perfect world we would all live frugal and careful lives but many of us end up for many reasons needing to clear out from time to time.

I have party ended up with too much stuff because friends and family know I am grateful for secondhand clothes and toys, and buy almost nothing new. But the less caring just use that as a way of offloading everything they don't want!

My greatest sin of overconsumption is having 3 dc! And making sure that everything is moved on as soon as it is outgrown or no longer wanted is an endless task!

We are lucky because the recycling centre is only about a mile away, small electricals can be left each week for the bin collection. I generally put clothes and small items in the bags that come through the door or supermarket bins.

Charities are quite picky about what they collect - too many people have dumped too much rubbish on them in the past.

I agree with OP as I hold onto anything of use until I can find a new home for it.I grew up in poverty and absolutely hate wasting anything that can be re-used.

I have a neighbour who is very house-proud (no clutter in house thank you! and switches on the light in the sitting room as soon as it's dark to show off her eternally unused "good room". She also drives an electric car and waxes lyrical about the environment yet rented out a skip and chucked a whole array of toys, furniture and many other items into it rather than make the effort to recycle or bring any to a charity shop or put them up for free on classified ads, etc.

I agree with every word! It's really difficult if you don't drive. I don't know what to do with worn-out electricals. I can't go to the recycling centre because you're not allowed to walk onto the site. Health and safety!

I thought I was doing my bit for the environment by not having a car.
There should definitely be more local recycling points for electricals and also for worn out textiles.

When my dm died I had to clear her house and it did take some time and is not easy if you don’t drive.
we found a charity locally that sets people up in furnished flats and they took a lot of things - beds, mattresses, dining room table and chairs etc. All in very good condition so they were keen to take everything.
I think we ended up with my DM’s recliner that had to go the tip but managed to donate or sell the rest. We also put some items in auction - fur coat eg as I thought it might get picked up by a tv or theatre company. It did sell for a nominal amount of money but main objective was that it didn’t go to landfill.

I get you, I currently have :

a pile of small electrical, waiting to go to the collection point at community center.

A bag of outgrown kids cloths, waiting to go to charity shop

A second bag of tatty cloths, waiting to go to the fabric recycling bin outside kids plat centre.

Lots of cat food my cat won't eat, waiting to go to the shelter

A box of batteries, waiting to go to big supermarket (not the one I shop at)

Just driving round to the separate locations would take half a day, which is never my top priority when I do have some time, so they all just sit in 'sorted' bags/piles for weeks, and my house is just as clustered as before the clear out.

Recycling centres don't generally let you in if you are not in a vehicle, which makes it very difficult if you don't drive, we used to take DM's stuff for her when she was alive.

I assigned DH battery duty, he uses them mainly so he takes them out with him when he is walking past the supermarket.

I walked past the supermarket clothes bins the other day and there were great piles of bin bags spilling all over the carpark which people had fly tipped after clearing out after Christmas and finding the clothes bins full.

After spending ages trying and failing to find a charity that would actually use this stuff, I found Anglo doorstep collections ( who collected so didn’t have to try and drop somewhere that’s only open when I’m working). I still have a few bags of stuff they don’t take like school uniform which apparently no one wants as it’s all generic ( school takes the branded stuff to sell second hand but don’t want the generic items).

In London at least (not sure about rest of UK) Currys the electrical shop will take electrical items for recycling.

It may depend on where you live, but where I live (Cornwall) it's become much harder to get rid of stuff in the last few years. When my MIL moved out of her home we got rid of loads of stuff to charity because there was a big warehouse that just took car loads of stuff. When we went back recently it had closed down, and shops can only take a few bags and boxes at a time.

We used to be able to just turn up at the tip - you get to know when the quiet times are. Now you have to book a slot which makes the whole thing more stressful.

A relative runs a charity that collects unwanted household items and furniture to donate to people moving into social housing. They do get loads of stuff they can't use and it's expensive to handle, so I can see both sides

It's definitely a process- we only have one place in town that takes empty pill packets so I have a bag of those waiting too.

Olio is brilliant - most things get snapped up there including old kids clothes which are still ok for playing and getting paint/mud on but which aren't good enough quality for the charity shop to sell.

Just put some fabrics for recycling in a collection bin. Hope they take rags 😅 Only one of the 8 banks had space and so much stuff had been dumped beside them.

I have this struggle too, but more with things that are not worth sending to a charity, such as small cheap toys, I have tried zerowaste bags but they are expensive.

I do see that for people without cars it is much harder, my local hospice charity takes loads and has a drive up donation center.

My local tip has to be booked and you have to provide the vehicle registration you will use, and they have number plate recognition barriers in place, so makes it difficult for anyone without their own vehicle. Weekend slots can be difficult to get and may need to wait a week or 2 which is going to be difficult for households working Monday to Friday. (Weekday slots are easy to get).

Dunelm stores have collection bins for old household textiles including pillows and duvets, so that's helpful if you can get to such a store, but who wants to lug an old duvet on the bus?

Some skip companies advertise that they recycle large amounts of what they collect, so that maybe an option for households with a lot to get rid of, but then you need somewhere to put a skip which is not easy if you don't have a drive or can't easily park elsewhere if the skip is in your parking spot.

But on Batteries there is no excuse to put them in the household waste, with the associated fire risk. As mentioned already on this thread some councils collect them with the waste if you bag them separately, so check your council's website, if not then it should not be really difficult for most adults to manage to get to a shop that sells batteries and if they sell them they have to collect them for recycling.

I have a bag of stuff by my front door that I've been meaning to take to charity for the last month. I try and dispose of responsibly but there is some waste and I do feel guilty. I agree it is a big job.

I agree. Having decluttered 4 properties over the past few years, we're definitely buying a lot less to avoid either us or our son having a big de-clutter in the future. It's shocking how much "stuff" we had to dispose of, a lot of which was barely used. We've definitely learned to "reduce and reuse" to reduce the need to "recycle". Our own home is now very minimalistic and we're trying our utmost to keep it that way!

If you had more clothes than DC could wear, you had too many. We all do it, but it makes no sense to worry about the environmental impact of disposing of them when by far the bigger impact is having this stuff in the first place.

We create the problem when we clutter in the first place - avoiding decluttering doesn't avoid the issue.

If you replace bedding that's good to use, you should expect whatever your replacing will go to landfill.

Clothes, toys and household items you can probably put on Vinted, but for the most part if you don't want them (excluding toys and some clothes) then neither will most other people and it's not fair to foist that problem onto a charity shop in a misguided way to feel less guilty.

I think the only way to stop this happening is to be more mindful in our consumption in the first place (if you buy something new, then what will happen to the other thing in your house whose space it will take). You have to buy ethically first, and then do your best to dispose ethically - but you need to acknowledge most things you buy will end up in landfill, probably before the end of their useful life.

This is true of every Currys store across the UK.

I've never found it particularly difficult. Book a slot at tip. They recycle electrical , batteries , clothes. Home via charity shop

Any furniture that's good enough or things not to tip stick on local page for free collection. If not bung in car and take to charity. Clothes not good enough to donate I take to a local garage who uses for rags
I do this regularly.