A few thoughts on House Clearances

for Recycle Week

Since my friend died recently, I've been clearing out her house. Some things have obvious homes, for example I'm putting aside all her family heirlooms and family history (photo albums and the like) for her family. But the rest can be quite daunting! I'm trying to be as thoughtful as I can with passing things on, which is leading to a fair bit of trekking round town, but it's worth it to be sure that items will reach people who could most gladly make use of them.

In the spirit of Recycle Week (14-20 October) and bearing in mind this year's theme: ‘Rescue Me’, which focuses on rescuing recyclable items from heading to the rubbish bin, here are some of things I'm doing:

I donated in-date canned foods and unopened toiletries to the Pennywell Pantry, run by the Community Renewal Trust. The pantry is a well stocked shop, where people in need can buy items at reduced prices.

I donated winter coats to the winter coat outlet at Leith Collective's base in Ocean Terminal. Last year, it redistributed over 7,000 free coats to those in need, which is an impressive figure.

I'm going to take towels to the Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home, who collect towels and blankets for the animals to rest on.

I donated several boxes of hand knitted scarves that my friend had made (knitting helped her arthritis) to Granton Goes Greener, a church based project in North Edinburgh that has several projects including distributing clothes to people in need.

I’m going to donate my friend’s musical instruments to a local musical charity, though I haven’t decided which.

My friend was a member of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community, so I'm giving her religious books and related items to the community.

I’ll take her old spectacles to Specsavers Opticians who will recycle them.

I’ll make sure her old mobile phones, laptop and other devices are recycled or refurbished ethically.

A lot of things will make their way to second hand shops and of course there will be a final house clearance, which I'll arrange through a charity. In the UK, the Salvation Army, British Heart Foundation and Age UK all organise house clearances, at a cost of between £400 - £900. You can find out a little more on the Zero Waste website, but to access the service, you're probably best contacting your local branch of the relevant charity.

**

The whole process of clearing out my friend's flat (and having helped clear out several homes before, including my father's) has made me think about just how much stuff we all tend to accumulate. I like the idea of Swedish Death Cleaning, whereby you declutter your own life so that your loved ones aren't faced with such a task once you go.

To some extent, I can be quite ruthless. I get rid of books quite happily unless I know I’ll read them again (or use them for reference). The problem there is how many second hand books I buy! I go through my wardrobe every year to get rid of things I never wear or that no longer fit. But still, we have an amazing amount of stuff, including a lot of craft supplies, but we also have a fair amount of stuff that we hope one day we can use in some way or things that currently are impossible to recycle, but one day maybe? We hate throwing things away!

Edited to add: if you are clearing out a house, please check the legal situation in your country! You may need to wait until certain legal processes have been carried out before you can start to clear things out. Please check with a lawyer if in doubt.