Tuesday 23 September 2014

Decluttering: What to do with old or broken electrical items


Hello honeys!
I hope everyone's well & having a great start to the week.  As I said (very) late last night, as much fun as the Blogtember Challenge has been, and it really has, I've been keeping up at the expense of my own "Rosie" posts I'm afraid.  So I thought today I'd write an organizing post.


Apologies though, because this should have been published yesterday, but I had a "flarey" day with awful spine & shoulder pain, so today I'm determined to at least try to catch up.
 

How to recycle electrical items


I wondered if anyone else has ever wondered what on earth to do with their old or broken electrical appliances?  I know that I certainly have.  Of course we have two very different categories of items, but there are many ways to de-clutter both old & broken things.


1. Broken items:


I'm sure we've all been there, you go through to the kitchen one evening to switch the kettle on to make a lovely cuppa and the kettle won't work! Arrrggg!!   Why does it always seem to happen at night? At least it always has with us. I've never heard of anyone whose kettle goes on the blink, just as they've put their coat on to go shopping, nope, always at night, when you're already in your jammies & only looking for a late night cuppa before bed.  So infuriating!

So, off we all go next day, out to buy a new kettle, take it home, unpack it, wash it, plug it in and yaaay! cuppa! While drinking our lovely cuppa, we look at the now useless kettle. What on earth do we do with it?  It's shocking how many people would just chuck it straight into the bin without thinking, where will that end up?  Where it ends up of course is in landfill.

We all know the evils of landfill, the damage being done to our planet by toxins bleeding into water supplies & soil but it can be avoided so easily. In the case of broken items, like our example of the kettle?  Why not:

a) Call ahead to the store you're off to buy a replacement from.  Many electrical (though sadly not all) stores are happy to take old items & recycle them for you, when you buy a similar replacement item from them.

b) Contact your local council who will have a recycling centre where you can take items like small domestic appliances, used batteries, fluorescent tubes etc.  These recycling centres will also accept larger items like washing machines, cookers & fridges.  They might even pick them up & take them away for disposal, although sometimes local councils will charge a fee for this. Better to contact them first to check.

In the UK if you go here and type in your post code, choose from the drop down menu what type of item you want to get rid of and this fabulous site will tell you what amenities are nearby to help.  

2. Older, but still working items


What if you're having a good de-clutter, emptying kitchen cupboards out & find you have doubles of something. Like that extra toaster a relative bought you last Christmas that's still in the box, or the hand blender you have two of because you couldn't find the first one (kitchen cupboards cluttered much Rosie? lol I'm working on it honest!) Or maybe you're updating your TV but don't know what to do with your existing older, but still good model. 

Whichever the case may be for finding yourself with spare or unwanted items. Again there are many ways to re-purpose these items and give them a longer life.

a) Do you have family or friends who might use the item?
b) Your local council might, in addition to their recycle facilities, accept working (and even in some cases items in need of small repairs.)  Our local Council does this. The items are then repaired and/or tested before being passed on to anyone who might need them through community projects.

c) Some charity organizations also accept electrical items, just remember to call ahead & check first.

d) What about listing items on "free" sites such as Gumtree or Craigslist. 



3. Computers, Laptops, Tablets & Phones


Honeys you have to make sure these are scrubbed before you part with them! No, I don't mean they should have a bubble bath :) I mean that you have to protect your personal data.  That means scrubbing all trace of yourself from your items before they ever leave your possession.

The consumer magazine Which has a great page advising the best way to do this and you can read it HERE. Yes, I know, I used capitals but it really is hugely important honeys.  Identity theft or fraud is a horrible, nasty crime and criminals want access to your data. Don't make it easy for them.

I had already planned this post, intending to publish it yesterday, but it's very apt because I had a very lucky escape this morning.  I was making a start on my ironing and our iron "blew" tripping the circuit breakers.  It gave me a scare honeys it really did, since I could have been electrocuted. So, there is a small iron heading towards the local council recycling centre rather than to landfill.  I believe in angels and clearly, thank God, I had one watching over me this morning.

How do you de-clutter your old or unwanted electrical items? Do share if you have any more tips?  Till next time dear ones, take care & stay warm, autumn has arrived. Sending hugs xx

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