Easy ways to get rid of Clutter

Freecycle – http://uk.freecycle.org

A worldwide network of people who give things away to people who collect them. Great for big things (like Pianos!) and for boxes of random crap for other people to take to a car boot sale. You need to find your local Freecycle group and join it, then you just post what you want to get rid of.

Freegle http://www.ilovefreegle.org/

There are 1,462,341 Freegle members in 383 reuse groups all over the UK. It works the same way as Freecycle but in some areas is more active, which is important when you are getting rid of stuff.

GumTree – www.gumtree.com

Has a free to collector section and is free to list.

Recycling – www.recyclenow.com

The Recycle Now website has a handy way of finding out what you can recycle in your recycling box and what your local tip will take.

Scrap Metal Collectors

If you Google ‘scrap metal collector in (wherever you are) there will be a whole bunch of people who will collect your stuff for nothing, then make money on it by weighing it in.

If you prefer to keep the money yourself, but have the hassle of taking it to be weighed in Google ‘sell scrap metal’ and your location.

Leave it somewhere with ‘free to good home’ note attached

This works for me nearly every time. I just leave things on the wall at the front of my garden. I don’t live in a very nice part of town but things so far have not been trashed, just taken.

Local Councils Bulky Item Collection

This is usually free if you are on the right sort of benefits, or there is a small charge. They will generally collect anything that 2 men can pick up.

Charity Bags

This is easy as you just leave the full bag outside your house but be aware that the majority of the money made by selling these clothes will not go to a charity. The clothes you donate are sorted into sellable and recycling and then sold on to other companies to make money out of. The collectors pay so much to the partner charity per ton collected.

www.charitybags.org.uk says “Taking your unwanted clothes etc to a charity shop raises around 50 times more money for charity compared with giving your clothes to a typical house-to-house ‘charity’ collector !”

Facebook

There are many local groups for buying, selling and giving stuff away on Facebook. Try searching for “Buy and Sell” or “Facebay” in your area. My local group is called BS5 Booty!