For me, the declutter process is hard because I hate the idea of sending things to landfill. I really strive to be as close to zero-waste as possible by removing things from my life responsibly. Do you feel the same? Here are just a few ideas for sending your things out into the world for another life. While some of these organisations may not be in your local area, you can certainly find inspiration to hunt out similar places in your neighbourhood.

SELLING

First of all, selling is as easy these days as making a listing on eBay, Gumtree, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace. If you hope to make some money from your items, list them here. However, you can delegate the selling part to keep your life simple. A friend of mine has passed about 150 clothing items to a consignment store to sell and gets money each time an item sells, transferred into her bank account.

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CLOTHING, FURNITURE & GENERAL DONATIONS FOR OP SHOPS

• St Vincent de Paul
• Sacred Heart Mission
• The Salvation Army or Salvos 
• Red Cross
• Brotherhood of St Laurence

Look around your neighbourhood for op shops and make a drop off each time you fill a box. For large items like furniture, or several cartons, you can book a truck and the store will come to collect from you.

BABY ITEMS

• St Kilda Mums
• Mummies Paying It Forward

BRAS

• Uplift Project

SPORT SHOES & EQUIPMENT

• Boots for All

STUFFED ANIMALS & TEDDIES

• Backpacks for Kids

SMARTPHONES

• The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

BOOKS & MAGAZINES

• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• The Footpath Library

CDs, DVDs

Give to your local chemo centre or nursing home.

STAINED OR OLD SHEETS AND TOWELS

Give to your nearest animal shelter.

E-WASTE

• Ecycle SA
• Camera Recycle Australia

You can also try local repair shops to donate for parts. My repairman just accepted an old computer to pass on to a men’s shed for taking apart and using the parts.

My local library has a recycling cabinet outside their entrance, which accepts X-rays, mobile phones, video and audio cassette tapes, batteries and lightbulbs.

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You can also use your imagination to donate locally to places who might need your items, and failing that, look around your neighbourhood for inspiration.

Is there anything you could donate to a homeless, domestic abuse or refugee shelter in your city? Check out their websites or jump on google (shelters + your town name) to look up suitable places and their donate page to see what they accept.

I use google plus my item name to look up suitable recipients for my things. However, I also get regular inspiration from directories like Planet Ark and Give Now. I hope you find some value in them too.

Feel free to send me any useful organisations or ideas you might have found and I will add them here for the benefit of others.