I don't know if it is because Spring has officially sprung (although someone forget to tell the weather that - it's freeeeeezing here today,) or whether it's because we're now on British Summer Time - yay, daylight until 7.30 pm - but I seem to have gone in to declutter overdrive at the moment.
It was lovely to be able to get rid of two sacks of 'stuff' last Friday, and the fact that they were being collected from the front path prompted me to delve into the seemingly endless pile of 'stuff' that lurkes in the bottom of the wardrobe - and subsequently put a few items into the charity sack and also take a punt and list a few more on ebay. Oddly enough, a lot of the 'stuff' I found had been rattling around in there for months (if not years) and I'd pretty much forgotten I had it. Quite a few of the items I listed on ebay have already got bids on them so it looks as thought it was not a complete waste of my time to photograph and list them.
Once I'd finished with the 'stuff' on the wardrobe floor I moved on to being rather ruthless with my summer clothes. I think there's some rule that says if you haven't worn an item of clothing in two years, get rid of it. Hmm, there were quite a few items in there that fitted that criteria - anything really nice will go on ebay but a couple of the items had some minor faults (nothing serious, just little things that meant I wouldn't feel happy listing them on ebay) and they went into the charity sacks. A couple of items were beyond being of any use to anyone so they went into the pink recycling sack with a 'textile' sticker on it. I think it's great that Basildon Council will take textiles as part of their fortnightly recycling collections. Apparently if the items are in good condition they are passed on to charity, if not they're cut up and used as rags for idustrial purposes. They'll take any sort of textiles and even shoes and handbags - although I'm not sure they could cut those up for rags!
I've finally located a place in Wickford where I can recycle batteries - Boots the chemist. I don't get on with rechargable batteries as they only seem to last about five minutes in my digital camera and I do get through rather a lot of AA batteries as I take quite a few digital pictures. P has always been scandalised that batteries were not easily recyclable here and I've always felt rather uneasy about lobbing them into the general rubbish when I know they are full of such horrible toxins. Thank goodness I've now found an outlet for them to be recycled. (Have just found this useful site that lets you find your nearest 'Batterycan' battery recycling point.)
And finally, in a bid to clear up the pile of 'stuff' that lurks on the bedroom floor (yes, I have piles of 'stuff' just about everywhere) I got out the sewing machine and converted the 'I-don't-believe-it' king size duvet cover into a double one. After all the hassles I had coverting the other 'bought in error' cover I was expecting a full afternoon of swearing and cussing but it went really smoothly and within approx. 20 minutes I had a pretty good imitation of a double duvet cover. Some of the seams may not be entirely straight - hind leg of a donkey is perhaps more accurate - but I think I'm with the Amish when they say only God can produce perfection. I know I certainly can't!!
I am with you on the decluttering - I recently purchased 'Clear your clutter' by Karen Kingston and I have made £400 ebaying so far this month! I still have piles of stuff to list - once you crack on and list it becomes so much easier doesn't it? I thought you'd enjoy this link - I did an overlocking class led by the girl that runs this company. She converts very old jumpers donated in the very tectile bags of which you write into desirable wearable garments... she is very clever huh?
http://www.goodone.co.uk/
Posted by: Amy | 03/31/2010 at 07:54 PM