He meant YOUR mugs need clearing out!
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My in-laws have a large house and a barn with an apartment. My MIL rarely gets rid of anything. She has asked that people not give them more stuff for birthdays and holidays. My husband has understood but his siblings have not. They still bring them stuff that they don’t use.
I love a beautiful ceramic mug but my favorite mug for coffee is a set of white Dansk mugs my MIL gave me years ago. It fits perfect in my hand. We have way more espresso cups than we will ever use. Most of them we have picked up on trips abroad.
I have several bags waiting to donate plus a box of the pots that the Trader Joe’s orchids come in.
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Put a few more things on Buy Nothing this morning and have interest in all of the items including one which I posted a month ago with no interest. It pays off to re post!
I went through all of the drawers and cabinets in the study and found several old phones, fitness watches, earbuds, etc. Gonna see if SIL can erase the data on these and we can get rid of them.
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Due to awful long covid years ago, I have a zillion compression stockings, knee highs, leg sleeves, gloves, etc. I posted them to buy-nothing several times with no responses. I off-loaded a bunch a couple of weeks ago, and now have interest in the rest.
I held onto them for a while (what if I need them again?) and then realized that I can always buy more. And I certainly don’t need the gazillion knee-highs I bought when I hurt too much to do laundry very often.
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dDonated a box of books and a bag of clothes. Yesterday, cleared out old phone cords.
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Today I took about six pairs of boots and shoes that I haven’t worn in – oh, maybe 15 years? It was time. I also donated a silverplate meat platter. It’s been sitting in my basement for decades (well, in two different basements, but you get it). Silverplate is not worth anything, but maybe this will make someone happy.
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Took a bunch of stuff to goodwill yesterday. Little kid picked up a bunch of my clothes to resell on eBay or whatever site today.
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Oh the cord dilemma - you amass tons of them and when you get rid of the thing it was used for you never get rid of the matching cord (probably because it is in a nest of tons of cords in another location)!
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Last week I helped my very sharp 99 year old father go through a big box of old cards and letters. He enjoyed seeing them all, kept a few in a folder (and I took a few). He’s swedish, so I smiled thinking back to the lighthearted “Swedish Death Cleaning” book. We also went through a big crate of books, keeping a few (and pulling a few aside for relatives)… dropped the rest off at the ilbrary.
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The Nordstrom Rack, within walking distance of my house, has three donation containers for clothes and shoes. It is so easy for me to drop things off that I have no excuse not to do it! I dropped off two bags on Saturday.
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Are they actually run by Nordstrom Rack?
A regular scam is to put up a “donation bin” (which is large and looks legit) but is not run by a legitimate donation center. Usually on these you won’t easily recognize the organization. Whoever is running it is just selling the items for profit. Nordstrom Rack does have ways to donate but an outside bin is not one of them as far as I know.
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I should have said that the donation bins were outside the Nordstrom Rack and not affiliated with them. I have checked the organization on the bins and it is legitimate, but thank you for the warning. I donate a lot of clothes and household items to a women’s shelter here in town, but sometimes I just have a few things that I don’t want sitting around so I will use these bins.
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You know, if used clothing is staying out of the landfill… I’m good with that. Used clothing pipelines should be encouraged. Of course if profits go to a worthy charity, better yet.
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I give almost all my excess things to the same organization (the biggest in this area, benefits a mental health group). There are a lot of things that are overpriced, IMO, in their stores. I know there are a lot of people who shop there to resell on online places and they make a profit doing that.
We have ‘large item pickup’ thru trash collection. I’m thrilled when I put things out and the scavengers take stuff off the pile before the trash truck comes. Last time I put out a roll of carpeting that was in good shape but of no use to me, skis that were in good shape, chairs, patio furniture. And then I don’t have to get it to the thrift store, just out to the curb.
I’m glad it is being reused.
Savers was a for profit thrift store chain. They had donation bins all over town and I know a lot of people thought they were a charity, but they weren’t. I didn’t care and would sometimes donate in those bins as it was convenient.
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While I prefer to donate items to a local non-profit thrift (for instance we have some pet focused ones), I also will on occasion donate to someplace like Goodwill. I know a lot of people frown upon Goodwill.
I just figure the donating and re-using is what is most important and the shoppers will be largely the same no matter the ownership - those whose pocketbook requires thrifting, those who like to reuse/recycle use of objects and those who thrift and sometimes resell as an income for their family.
I dropped off a bag at our humane society store yesterday and did a quick run through the store. Honestly, thrift prices sometimes have me shaking my head! Simple mugs for $4/piece? Same price as Home Goods!
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My thrift store has started marking things way up. Yesterday there was a new with tags dress for $18. Sure the store tag price was $55, but I’m sure even at the store it was on sale (at some point) for $25 or even less, and at the store you can pick the size and maybe color. I may go back on Saturday when it will b $9, but ‘in the olden days’ it would have been marked $10 and on sale for $5. (and then I for sure would have bought it).
I take my kitchen stuff to a place here called Kitchens for Good San Diego. They use the money they make to fund programs in culinary arts to help underserved people get employment in restaurants. Their second hand store is well organized and I have found some great deals on expensive kitchen items there.
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It could be staying out of landfill in the US, but it could have negative societal impact when shipped in bulk to third world countries and still end in a landfill there. This article focuses on fast fashion but it applies to used clothing donated to certain organizations in general.
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Although Savers is for profit, they will buy stuff from local non-profits, therefore supporting charities indirectly.
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I have a friend with family from Ghana who cautioned me about donation bins. The stuff that gets sent to Africa competes with local clothing makers including those using traditional dyes and such to keep their history alive.
I try to use Buy Nothing and a charity store that uses the proceeds of donated clothing sold to conduct English classes and citizenship exam prep classes, etc. The Salvation Army and Goodwill, as far as I know, bundle unsold clothing and sell it by the ton to overseas markets.
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