Recycle banks

Recycling

Moving house, especially when moving overseas, generates waste. All those unwanted household items that have been hiding in your loft space come out to look for a new home. The environmentally conscious will find it difficult to take everything to the council dump.

Sell your stuff – As moving abroad is costly, making some money back on your unwanted items is a bonus. Here are some places to start…

  • eBay is the obvious place to sell your unwanted stuff. It’s easy to create an account and get your stuff on the market. Give yourself enough time to wait for the best price.
  • Preloved is another popular way of selling online. Placing an ad is free.
  • NappyValley.co.uk is useful for children’s clothes, equipment and toys if you  live in or around London. You pay a small fee to place an ad but items sell quickly, particularly in South West London, the area from which the site gets its name. I personally sold items via the site before leaving London and found the selling process a dream.
  • Visit the Sell your stuff section of Amazon.co.uk to sell used books. The site is easy to use and money you are due arrives quickly.
  • Garage sales are huge in Australia. Why not get in the mood by holding one before you leave? Don’t have a garage? Your drive or front garden will do…
  • Boot sales are big business in the UK, particularly during Spring and Summer. You’ll pay a small fee for your spot (about £10) but if you’ve got a car full of good quality items it’ll be worth your while. There are several online car boot sale directories including; yourbooty and carbootsales.

Give to charity – If you don’t have time to make a sale, give your stuff to charity. Smaller household items and good quality clothing can be taken to your local charity shop. Here are some UK charities that are interested in larger items such as furniture and electrical goods;

  • The British Heart Foundation has over 90 furniture and electrical shops in the UK. The charity also offers a house clearance service, if you’re donating a number of good quality items the pick up service will be free.
  • British Red Cross have dedicated furniture shops through the UK. Call to confirm donation requirements.
  • Age UK (Previously Age Concern and Help the Aged) have 492 shops across the UK, some shops will collect larger items.
  • Oxfam have 15 furniture shops in the UK.

Recycling – If you’ve got time on your hands you can find a way of recycling most items.

  • Textiles (i.e. clothes and linen that aren’t good enough for the charity shop). Enter your postcode on the TRAID website to find your nearest textile recycling bank.
  • Batteries and Printer Cartridges – there are often recycling bins in your local library or leisure centre.
  • Shoes – speak to your local cobbler or shoe shop.
  • Mobile Phones – I sold an old phone via Mazuma Mobileand the whole process is so easy it would be silly to let unwanted handsets gather dust. Once I’d registered I promptly received instructions and a Free Post envelope for my phone – within a week I had a cheque for £15. Phones can also be sent to a number of charities.
  • Another UK-based site I’ve read about is www.freecycle.org where community based groups advertise items that they would like to give or get for free. Once you become a member you can offer items to others and post ‘wanted’ ads.

You may have read in A stress-free move to Australia that we failed miserably in finding good homes for our unwanted items – the environmentally conscious Mum over my shoulder wasn’t impressed. Do you think this post redresses the Karma? Let me know.

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