Where to Send the Things You Are Clearing Out

Most clear-outs do not fail at the decision stage. They fail at the logistics stage. The pile gets made, then it sits in the hallway for three weeks because nobody is quite sure what happens next, and eventually some of it goes back in the cupboard.

Here is a practical breakdown for Australian households. Check the specifics with your own council and your nearest charity, since both vary considerably, but the shape of it holds nationally.

Op shops and charity stores

The main thing worth knowing is that charity shops are not a disposal service, and treating them as one causes real problems. Charities spend significant sums each year sending unusable donations to landfill, money that was meant to fund their actual work.

A reasonable test: would you give this to a friend without apologising for it? If yes, donate it. If you would need to explain its condition first, it is not a donation.

Generally welcome, in good condition: clothing that is clean and undamaged, books, working small appliances, kitchenware, toys with all their pieces, linen, shoes as pairs.

Usually not accepted: anything broken, stained or missing parts, mattresses, cots and child car seats (safety regulations), electrical items that do not work, and large furniture unless the store has specifically said they can take it.

Ring first for anything bulky. Many stores have very limited storage, and a booked pickup is far more useful to them than a surprise delivery after closing.

Council hard rubbish

Most Australian councils run some form of hard waste collection, but the rules differ enormously between them. Some offer a set number of scheduled collections a year, some run on-demand bookings, some run fixed annual dates by suburb.

Worth checking your council website before you plan a clear-out around it, since a collection you cannot book for six weeks changes the timing of everything else. Search your council name plus hard waste or hard rubbish.

Items commonly excluded include tyres, paint, gas bottles, asbestos, car parts and general household rubbish. Putting excluded items out can mean the whole pile is left behind.

Things that need specific handling

• Electronics and e-waste: many councils and some retailers run collection points. E-waste is banned from landfill in several states.
• Batteries: collection bins are common in supermarkets and hardware chains.
• Paint and chemicals: household chemical collection events run periodically in most states, usually free.
• Mattresses: specialist recyclers exist in most capitals. Charities cannot take them.
• Textiles beyond wearing: some clothing retailers and councils run textile recovery. Do not put rags in the charity bin.
• Medicines: return to any pharmacy rather than binning.

Selling, and whether it is worth it

Selling second-hand is worth doing for a narrow band of items and quietly not worth doing for most of them.

The honest maths: photographing, listing, answering messages, arranging a pickup and waiting around for someone who may not show up is easily an hour of work. For a $20 item that is a poor hourly rate, and the item often sits unsold in the meantime, which means it has not actually left your house.

Selling tends to make sense for items above roughly $100 in good condition, things with an established resale market, and anything where the buyer will collect. Below that, the fastest route out is usually the best one.

Giving things away directly

Buy Nothing groups and local giveaway pages are active in most Australian suburbs and are often the fastest route for usable items that op shops will not take. Furniture, plants, part-used craft supplies, kids gear that has been outgrown.

They also tend to be quicker than selling, because nobody is negotiating.

What you learn on the way out

One small thing worth doing while the pile still exists. Before anything goes, note down roughly what each item cost and roughly how long you had it.

It takes seconds an item and it is the only moment when that information is recoverable. Once it is in the boot it is gone, and with it goes the clearest picture you will ever get of which of your purchases actually earned their place.

Buoycott is being built to capture exactly this, in about fifteen seconds an item. It is an Australian decluttering tool for the home and for personal spending. Join the waitlist to hear when it launches. Join the waitlist →