There's a member of my family who sometimes says she wishes she had a self-cleaning house. Look. This guy has one!!
Well, I don't know about you, but I found that absolutely fascinating! Captivating.
I have no idea how he did it, I find I always have to sort my stuff manually . . .
And today what's on the way out of my door is a bowl I bought at some point to wash in, and a very nice little towel.
None of us ever use either of these highly practical items. They are surplus to requirements. Off they go.
7 comments:
My children had a clear out, and I think I must have taken 730 things to the charity shop yesterday!
I am mindful of the fact that it's not great to overwhelm a charity shop with stuff, so I'm trying a new strategy. When something arrives in this house in a box, the box should be filled with stuff to go out to a charity shop. I hope this might give a more reasonable flow of things.
Also sent on their way to a freecycler, a big bag of fabric and one of yarn. I'm hoping this weekend might also see the back of a particularly horrid brown cushion that has been in our lives for far too long!
I've been wondering how you decide whether things should go to the charity shop or on Freegle. And what do you think are the advantages of Freegle over Freecycle?
Zillah
Hi Zillah! Waving! Your box method is a genius move. Well done for such a massive clear-out initiative!
I move on things like this:
1) Would someone in the family like it? Or a friend or neighbour? For instance, I have some books to go that are about non-violent communication and social justice. These are a bit specialist for a charity shop, and might just lumber them with stuff they can't sell. I'm thinking of waiting until faith groups can meet up indoors again, and seeing if the Friends meeting in Hastings would like them. Recently we had a jigsaw puzzle. A couple of times jigsaws intended for a housebound woman along the road were mis-delivered to us, so I know she likes them, so we took it along for her.
2) Is it a sizeable enough item/collection for it to be worth someone's while to come over and fetch it? If yes, I'll Freegle it. I always add pics and careful description so people know exactly what's on offer, including condition.
3) If no, I'll add it to a bag/box accumulating for the charity shop. When that's full, I take it along, not too many things at a time so they aren't overwhelmed and the chances of stuff being sent to landfill are kept low. Just now I have on top of my cupboard a surplus troll and a pair of leggings, waiting for a few more additions.
4) Some things — eg plant pots — I put outside at the end of our path with a note chalked on the wall saying people can help themselves.
5) Some things — eg half a pot of white emulsion paint, a box of assorted electric cables, some beanpoles or chicken wire or cardboard boxes for moving house — are good on Freegle but not for the charity shop.
6) If something isn't good enough for the charity shop and not wanted on Freegle, a last option is that at the landfill site there is a little shop for selling stuff, as well as bins for recycling textile items, books etc.
7) Here and there Oxfam book banks can be found — there's one in a village a few miles from us, where we take books that can't be homed elsewhere.
As to Freegle or Freecycle, I just go with whatever gets things to people. I used to post stuff on Trash Nothing, an umbrella organisation that covered both Freegle and Freecycle — then, inexplicably, the Freegle option for the place I actually live was no longer offered, only for nearby places where I don't live. I tried going directly on Freegle but it wasn't emailing through notifications of messages from people who wanted the stuff. But Freegle continued to work okay for Tony, with notifications and everything, so now he has taken on the role of posting on Freegle and choosing a recipient. I think the choice comes down to which organisation is most active in your locality.
And talking of horrid cushions — another place that's good for stuff you can't sell is dog and cat rescue places. They often want old towels, old duvets, cushions, plates and bowls.
Apologies if you got notified of *loads* of comments from me! That was so long, and I kept finding errors and omissions in it. I can't edit, only delete, so it took several goes round to get it right. Sorry! x
What a brilliant video! I don’t think I could have been as ruthless as him because books are my weakness but oh to have a room that would take a minute or two to clean. Thanks for sharing Pen you always find interesting snippets on the web xx
Oh, I thought that video was so clever and fun! x
That's all very interesting, thanks for explaining.
On the subject of the horrid cushion. I put it once on Freecycle, and even though I didn't describe it as a horrid cushion, no-one wanted it. A few weeks later I rebranded it as a dog cushion. Bingo, two people interested! Dog and cat rescue places a good idea also.
Perfect! Well done!
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