This is a mini episode this week. I want to help you reduce the overwhelm and the confusion when it comes to disposing of things that youāve decluttered. Most of my clients want to be sustainable about this. Thatās a big reason that they hire me.
But sometimes theyāre disappointed because we canāt find a good outlet for something they wanted to let go of.
Itās not easy.
So today I want to give you as clear of an overview as I can of what you can do to let go of your decluttered stuff as sustainably as possible.
Welcome to Organizing for Beautiful Living. I'm Zee Siman, The Choosy Organizer.
This podcast is for the women who are done organizing everything and theyāre ready to be choosy about what matters, what's enough, and what can wait.
This is episode 125. OK, I'm giving you a simple way to think about letting go of stuff sustainably, category by category. And for each category, I'll give you the options, in this general order: sell, donate, and recycle or upcycle.
Not every category needs all four of these or has all of these available. You just need to know who to call or where to look for each. OK?
Let's start with electronics, because e-waste is one of the worst things that you can send to a landfill.
So first, you can try to sell it. Check the trade-in programs at Apple, Best Buy and other retailers. Then go local. Your local online marketplace, Facebook Marketplace, that kind of thing. I know people who have sold old tube TVs, old stereo receivers, and turntables are having a real revival right now, so don't assume nobody wants to buy your boom box, ok? Thereās somebody out there who wants it.
Now if it won't sell, then donate it. The National Cristina Foundation works with a partner called Digitunity, and they collect usable computers, refurbish them, and get them to people who don't have access to a device at all. That is their mission.
Now recycling. In my research for this episode, I found that a lot of electronics recycling drop-off points don't guarantee that your device actually gets recycled once it leaves your hands. There have been tracking investigations that put GPS trackers in old electronics and they found devices dropped off at what looked like responsible recycling programs ended up being exported overseas instead of being processed here. So the drop-off box alone isn't proof that something responsible is happening to your old electronics. What seems to actually matter is whether the recycler is whatās called R2 or e-Stewards certified. Those seem to be the two certifications that mean an independent auditor checked their process. So if you're in Miami, Electronic Recycling Center is R2 certified and they have a location on NW 36th Avenue, so that's a place to look into.
Next, we have clothing.
Sell first if it's worth your time. Online marketplaces like Poshmark and Depop can get you the most money, but they take a lot of effort. You have to take good photos, you have to set up the listing, take care of the shipping. If you'd rather hand off the whole process, ThredUp does it for you. You'll make a lot less, but you get your time back, and they'll donate whatever doesn't sell if you tell them to. Local consignment shops are another option, just know they will only take what they believe their particular clientele will actually buy. So they may not take everything.
Donate what's left, but run it through what I call the guest test first. If you wouldn't hand that item to a guest in your home to actually use, because it's stained, or ripped, or itās worn through, a resale organization can't sell it either, and then you're just handing them your trash to take care of.
So what actually happens to a piece of clothing once it's stained for good, or worn through, or not sellable, and itās not usable to make into anything else? The realistic path here that it gets sold to a company that turns it into wiping rags, or it gets shredded down into things like insulation or car seat stuffing. And that's not guaranteed for every type fabric. A stained cotton t-shirt can be used for things that a stained polyester-blend workout top just canāt. Right?
That points to the bigger issue of fabrics. Most clothing made today isn't truly recyclable, meaning canāt get it back to the fibers that can be used to make other fabric. Most fabrics arenāt even compostable, because most of it isn't one specific material. We have a lot of blended materials in our clothing now. And the blending happens back at the yarn stage, so a shirt that says 98 percent cotton can still have enough spandex spun through it that you'd never be able to spot it, but that makes it not compostable. Coatings do the same thing. Anything treated to be stain-resistant or water-resistant has a layer of plastic sealed onto it, and that layer will keep it from breaking down at all, ever.
There's one maybe bright spot if you're in a town or city who has programs of their own. Miami Beach, for example, has textile bins at a few fire stations and the youth centers that take clothing regardless of condition. And there's a company here called AMCLEX, on NW 37th Avenue, Now they seem to take clothing regardless of condition also. I couldn't confirm exactly what happens to the unsellable pieces there, whether it gets shredded locally or graded and shipped overseas, so I can't promise you that it becomes insulation. What I can tell you is it's a place to start, ok? Make the phone call and find out. Iām and I apologize that I didnāt have a chance before recording this episode.
And shredding isn't a forever fix either. Rags and insulation are still fabric, so they wear out too, and eventually they're going to the landfill just the same as everything else. The one thing that actually solves this is not glamorous. Itās to buy less clothing. And get more life out of what you already own. So repair it and alter it as much as youāre able.
Thereās also upcycling, which is not only sustainable, but itās a source for creative outlet. And you can use most types of fabrics to upcycle. If you sew, even a little, you can turn a pair of torn jeans into a denim tote bag, for example. Just find a beginner tutorial online to follow.
And if you don't sew, well you can host a clothing swap instead. Thatās particularly good for evening wear and kids' clothes that have life left in them. That's exactly what a swap with friends is for.
OK. Next up, books.
To sell, think about where your specific books have value. A used bookstore will often give you cash or store credit on the spot. Anything rare, or out of print, or collectibles would do better on eBay. And for the rest, some people just donate straight out, which is you know the simplest path if the money isn't worth your time.
So donate to your local library, but donāt give them textbooks, workbooks, or anything annotated or filled in.
You can also donate to your local uh thrift shops or charity shops that take books. Ask them first if they take books.
You can swap books with friends, or look for a coffee shop with a swap shelf. That works out great too.
And for recycling, just pull off any plastic dust jackets or plastic-coated covers first, and put them into your curbside recycling.
Housewares is another category I see a lot of. Grandmaās silverware, or a dish set that you don't use anymore.
Try selling locally first, or on eBay. But remember anything online, youāre going to have to deal with packing and shipping. But there are some people out there who are looking to complete a set that they have, and they want exactly one plate or one knife in a pattern they already own.
And then donate what's left to a local thrift shop, but call first to ask if they have room, and then also, run it through the guest test. Remember, nothing broken crazily broken, ok? Because they canāt resell it.
Upcycling of course can work for some things. You can use a pitcher as a vase, you can use dish sets no one wants for your kidsā birthday party tea. Let neighbors know you have this stuff if anyone is hosting a big dinner and wants to borrow or take them off your hands, hey, thatās great. And you can be creative, Iām thinking of tutorials using broken pieces of ceramics to make a fun base for a tray, or a unique tabletop. If thatās your thing, go for it.
Big furniture is the hardest category that Iāve come across lately.
So you can try selling locally, for pickup only, on your local marketplace first. If that doesn't work, put it on your buy nothing group. Which I should have added to all the other categories, too, by the way. Itās probably the best way to get something into the hands of the exact person who wants it. Right?
Now for donating to organizations, call around before you donate. Habitat ReStore and Salvation Army are a couple of the obvious ones, but you can also look for organizations that furnish housing for people transitioning out of homelessness or out of incarceration. But the size of the furniture is the biggest roadblock here. Most of the housing there aren't set up for an eight-person sectional, right?
And the last category is the odds and ends. What do you do with the broken coffee maker, the rusty screwdriver, the single shoe, the half-used can of paint.
Well first, try to fix it. Look for a Repair Cafe near you, that's free, or find a tutorial and give it a shot yourself before you assume that itās a goner. If it's worth more than your time, then do call a repair shop. They still exist in some localities, ok?
If it can't be fixed, call your municipal recycling center and ask what they take. That's usually your best option, though they may have rules about quantity or timing.
And for anything hazardous, paint, harsh chemicals, batteries, LED or energy-saving bulbs, medications, those need special handling, not your regular trash. Your municipal waste department will have specific collection days for household hazardous waste. And some pharmacies take old medication for disposal, but again, call first, since they may not be able to take things like injectables.
For batteries look for those little battery bins at places like Home Depot and Lowe's. You can look up your nearest drop-off at their locator online, so it's not just wherever you bought the battery, it's not a given that they have a collection spot, but itās anywhere in the Call2Recycle network. Call, the number two, recycle. You can look that up and see where they have bins in your network in your local town.
And the bulbs. Home Depot has run an in-store recycling program for CFL bulbs for years. LED bulbs are trickier, most stores don't have a dedicated bin for them yet, so your municipal hazardous waste collection is usually the more reliable option here. Check your city's waste management site, or give them a call and ask.
So there you go, a few clear options for you, post-decluttering, so the stuff isnāt sitting in your house for months because youāre not sure what to do with it and you feel guilty about just sending it to that nameless organization, right?
Think of it as four possible paths for your unwanted things:
sell, donate, recycle, and upcycle.
And now you have a way to get rid of your clutter without throwing them in the trash, and maybe getting into the hands of a person who really wants it, or giving it a second, or third, life, even.
And let me know if you have a tip I missed here. Put it in the comments.
Donāt forget to hit follow so you don't miss next week's episode, ok?
Have a beautifully organized week. I'm Zee, and I'll see you on the next episode.
