Decluttering

Ps look on Abe books or see if a second-hand book store might take them.
Are you anywhere near Hay-on-Wye, Calendargirl?

Mizuna
Re the mattress cover. That’s another one of my jobs in the shop: washing. I have taken a spare sewing machine to our shop so I can do repairs on the stock ( and other volunteers repairs 😂 )

Our is an old fashioned charity shops not the likes of Oxfam, Heart Foundation. Our manager doesn’t receive a penny in pay.
We are very lucky that we have a resident PAC tester.
We have a list on the wall of items that customers have requested.

I even wash stuff I take in a bag labelled "For the Ragman", petra. But don't iron it!

What is the matter with some people, sending dirty, torn items to a charity shop?

you can make art from your books

mymodernmet.com/book-art/

We have several charity shops in our town and my heart goes out to the staff when I see bin bags of stuff on a Sunday morning outside their doors despite their notices to not leave stuff on the pavement All soaking wet when it rains. Probably unwanted stuff from car boots. It must be a heart sink moment for the shop staff when they arrive and goes straight in their bins which as said above are charged for removal.

What is the matter with some people, sending dirty, torn items to a charity shop?

I agree absolutely. I don’t consider myself wonderfully houseproud or particularly fussy, but I would never send anything remotely dirty, unironed, tatty….

It’s like seeing items for sale on Facebook, clothes rumpled and creased, needing an iron, toys or garden furniture, ‘just needs a clean’….

Clean it before you put it on for sale, you lazy person!

I don't iron clothes before sending them. They would get creased in the bag anyway. I would never send anything unwashed though.

I have never sold anything on FB or similar, but if I'm giving it away I don't always feel that it's up to me to thoroughly clean something like garden furniture. If it's a freebie, it's up to the recipient to clean it. If it's being sold, then yes, it should be clean unless it's made very clear that it is a 'do it upper'.

I mostly use a recycling site, which is about offering things to others before taking them to the tip, and often there are rusty barbecues or old tables with heat marks that people take to restore and use again. If the owners had to renovate them themselves they wouldn't bother and they'd be sent to landfill.

I got really excited yesterday to hear that Sort Your Life Out was on that evening only to find it was a repeat of the last series which I’ve watched at least once.

Well, my washing machine pipes are still on nextdoor site, with not a glimmer of interest.
Can't even give em away!

Working on my freezer today. What do I do with Stork margarine that’s 4 years old? I hate putting stuff in landfill.

Hmm.. You can use it to oil things, squeaky hinges and stuff like that.
I was thinking of adding seeds and grains for bird feed, but I think they need lard, or solid fats.

MayBee70

I got really excited yesterday to hear that Sort Your Life Out was on that evening only to find it was a repeat of the last series which I’ve watched at least once.

It makes me feel a bit guilty thinking I should do more!
But not for long.

I am working through my yarn stash slowly. 🧶

Note to self.
Don’t make disparaging remarks about the donations.
Several times I’ve been known to say ( when sorting ) what the f%#k is this shite ( and sometimes it has been) when another volunteer has told me it was brought in by another volunteer. 🤦🏼‍♀️
Now my manager gives me the nod 😂

We once had a very argumentative volunteer. He would regularly bring in rubbish from his Nan ( he said)
One day he brought in a plastic aniamal drinking bowl Cracked😡
I threw it at him with a few expletives.

MissAdventure

Hmm.. You can use it to oil things, squeaky hinges and stuff like that.
I was thinking of adding seeds and grains for bird feed, but I think they need lard, or solid fats.

I’ve got six tubs of it! I read that eating fat means that food sticks to birds beaks and it makes it difficult for them to groom themselves. I don’t have the rooks and seagulls that my partner has at his house. They eat anything and everything. The top drawer is full of cooked chicken for the dog that’s too old to eat. Even the chicken wings that my dogs breeder gave me six years ago that I never gave her. Another drawer is full of uncooked over ripe bananas to make cake with. ( it’s because I live between two houses and I’m always bringing stuff back from one and throwing things in my freezer when I’m going to be away for a few weeks. I haven’t labelled things properly either. At least, once it’s gone I can organise it properly).

MayBee,
It really does sound as though your collections are getting a bit out of hand, there.
What's the least "valuable" (in terms of being reusable) thing/s you have.

The bananas, perhaps?
Could you try and get rid of those, do you think?

Also, there is no way you would feed your dog out of date food, I know, from just seeing how much you love your dog by your posts on here.

I, too, hate throwing away food, but faced with things like you describe I think I would put it all in a bag and put it in the bin.

It will be much easier to organise the freezer when everything is labelled and 'intentional'.

I got rid of a lot of (non-food) items a couple of years ago, and it is much easier to keep organised. I'm never going to be minimalist, or even particularly tidy, but creating space in cupboards has definitely helped. The original clearout was difficult, but it was worth it.

I’ve just read that meat can last indefinitely as long as it stays below freezing which surprised me. It’s quite a large upright freezer so I have to keep it full even if a lot of the food is out of date.

So, do you think you'll use it up then, at some point?
You could replace it with whatever you really like to eat, or even just things like bread, milk, etc.

Then when you come home from your partner's, you'll know you won't have to rush to the shop.

Sorry, I think I'm being too pushy.

Just remember I'm the woman with 95 rolls of double sided tape!

MayBee70

MissAdventure

Hmm.. You can use it to oil things, squeaky hinges and stuff like that.
I was thinking of adding seeds and grains for bird feed, but I think they need lard, or solid fats.

I’ve got six tubs of it! I read that eating fat means that food sticks to birds beaks and it makes it difficult for them to groom themselves. I don’t have the rooks and seagulls that my partner has at his house. They eat anything and everything. The top drawer is full of cooked chicken for the dog that’s too old to eat. Even the chicken wings that my dogs breeder gave me six years ago that I never gave her. Another drawer is full of uncooked over ripe bananas to make cake with. ( it’s because I live between two houses and I’m always bringing stuff back from one and throwing things in my freezer when I’m going to be away for a few weeks. I haven’t labelled things properly either. At least, once it’s gone I can organise it properly).

I think you can use over-ripe bananas as garden fertiliser.

Yes, and who wants to end up with their drawers full of flies in the summer?

Allira
I have banana every day. The skins go in the garden.

MayBee70

I’ve just read that meat can last indefinitely as long as it stays below freezing which surprised me. It’s quite a large upright freezer so I have to keep it full even if a lot of the food is out of date.

You can fill the freezer with old newspapers/ cardboard etc. it doesn’t have to be food.
This idea was given out in the 70s when we had the power cuts.

These are re- purposed donations. It was a damaged duvet cover.
So I made cushion covers to fit donated cushions.