|
|
|
The rest of your junk
THERE ARE PEOPLE - and charities - who will relieve you of almost anything you don't want. Old-fashioned charity shops will almost always take decent clothes, furniture and nick-nacks, and a growing number of websites will help you discover what to do with anything else you've got knocking around.
> General bric-a-brac
> Electrical goods
> Cars and car parts
> Furniture
> Really random stuff
> Recycling and swapping
As well as making money for charities - though they're generally not very cost-effective - charity shops gladly take most of your detritus while helping the environment (because re-using is better than recycling. Good eh?) There are too many shops to list here (6876 as it happens), and anyway these sites list them already:
Here's how to make sure they actually want the stuff you're trying to shift:
- Most stuff: any clothing and bric-a-brac will sell as long as it's clean, in fair nick and in one piece. Jigsaw puzzles with pieces missing, broken tumblers etc actually cost charities money as they have to pay for their disposal, and you don't want that.
The best guideline is to try to imagine yourself or anyone you know buying it. If not: in the bin.
- Electrical items: ring ahead to find out if they'll take these. Because of the legal (and safety) complications, many won't - but they might know someone who does.
- Furniture: as above, ring ahead. There are legal (and safety) complications here too. Also see below.
 Bear with us on this one. The EU’s new WEEE (Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment) Directive is designed to stop old electrical goods ending up in landfill sites and harming the environment - and could come in very handy if you've got an old telly (for example) to get rid of.
It means that manufacturers of goods from hairdryers to laptops to drills now have to take extra responsibility for their products, including providing disposal and recycling facilities.
All new products covered by the Directive will have the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol on them (see above). You don’t have to recycle or dump them yourself – just take them back to where you bought them. The retailer is obliged to take the item off your hands, or alternatively to tell you where you can safely dispose of them nearby. Easy!
If what you're trying to dump isn't new enough to qualify under this scheme, ask your local charity shop if they'll have it.
- Cartakeback.com and Autogreen help you find an Authorised [car] Treatment [i.e. destruction] Facility near you, which may even pay for your old car
- Caravanning Now helps you find your nearest caravan breaker
- Oil Care shows you where you can recycle engine oil.
Charity shops sometimes take furniture - but sometimes won't. Homelessness charity Emmaus and the Furniture Reuse Network, however, specialize in giving your old sofas and chairs a new lease of life. Emmaus uses old furniture to furnish its buildings and facilities; the FRN distributes it to poor families.
- Nike is using recycling to boost its ethical profile - the reuse-a-shoe programme grinds up old trainers and uses them to build running tracks, football fields and tennis courts. Check if there's a drop-off point near you.
- The RSPB will take binoculars, tripods or telescopes in good working order and pass them on to conservation or education projects
- The Laundry recycles CDs, DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes – post them to The Laundry CD Recycling, Lauren Dean, London Recycling, 4d North Crescent, Cody Road, London, E16 4TG
- Wrap is trialling kerbside collection of batteries in 13 local authority areas. If you're not included, try the search on Recycle More
- Specialist charity Tools for Self Reliance (see profile) collect tools and sewing machines to send to poor countries. They might want what you've got - but they are quite choosy. Get in touch to find out what they want.
- Paint can be donated to Community Repaint
- The Expanded Polystyrene Packaging Group (no, really) has a map for locating your nearest place to recycle polystyrene (particulatly the commonest type of expanded polystyrene that appliances come packed in)
- The Woodland Trust recycles Christmas cards (which can’t be put in the normal recycling because of the glitter, glue and so on)
- RecycleWood has a postcode search to find your nearest place to recycle wood
- TetraPak Recycling has an interactive map which shows you where you can recycle TetraPak cartons
- Spare nectar points can be donated to NCH, the children’s charity, online or by calling 08704 100 250.
- Recycle More has a recycling-bank locator to find the nearest place to recycle all sorts of things
- Junkk comes up with innovative ways to Reduce, Reuse, Repair and Recycle – especially Reuse – a forum for discussion, questions and answers, articles on environmental matters and local info.
- The Freecycle Network is the biggest site devoted to giving stuff away
- SwapxChange is another
- Read
it Swap it lets you swap books
- Swapz takes everything else
- eFreeko helps you give your old stuff to someone who wants it or lets you find something for yourself
- 2Recycle lets you give stuff away and get broken stuff mended
- Swapcycle is similar, but doesn't let you get stuff mended, and is bigger
-
ReUseItAll.com is another give-your-stuff-away site.
|
|
|
