Recycling unwanted stuff

This morning a guy knocked on the door asking for scrap metal. I suddenly remembered that we had loads of junk in our backyard, most of it left over by the previous tenant including rusted pipes and a sheet of metal weighing more than a ton. I had been planning to take them to the tip in London road and I fortunate that someone took care of that for me.

Looking around the house, I suddenly realise that in less than two years, we have accumulated quite a bit of unused and unwanted stuff. These include old clothing that my children have outgrown and loads of other stuff. The problem is that they are taking up precious space in our small house. I am sure a lot of you face the same problem as well.

Listed below are some way of getting rid of unwanted stuff:

1. Online auctions sites.

The first one that usually comes to mind is eBay, the largest online auction site in the World. A great way of making money while getting rid of unwanted items. So far, I have sold baby clothes, books, toys and even furniture on eBay.

Recently got to know about another popular online auction site called eBid. The great thing about this site is that unlike eBay, you are not charged listing fees

2. Car boot and Garage sales.

Never tried selling stuff at a car boot sale though I would like to try it out at least once before I leave the UK. One man's junk can be another man's treasure. Someone who has tried it before told me that it was a fun but tiring experience. The British weather is the unpredictable factor here. Would hate to get caught in a chilly shower.

3. Classifieds.

You can also list up items on the local newspaper classifieds or online. Gum tree is a very popular free online classifieds service here in the UK. It was acquired by eBay in May 2005. You might want to put up your items under the category, "Stuff for Sale".

4. Charities.

If you can't be bothered with all the hassle of listing items for sale, posting, and so on, you can donate your unwanted items (in good condition) to various charities like the PDSA, Help the Aged, Age Concern England, Barnardo's, etc. Some of them will even pick up the items from your house. Contributing for a good cause does feel good. Not everything is nor should be, about money.

5. Others.

You might also want to consider joining the Freecycle Network. With the noble goal of keeping "usable items out of landfills." You join the discussion group for your area, (in my case it is the Coventryfreecycle under Yahoo! groups). Do note that everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.

I had a huge hifi system I bought from a car boot sale for £3/. It was working great for sometime until the CD player suddenly stopped working one day. The tape and radio still worked but it was taking up too much space. I was about to drop it off at the tip when I remembered the Freecycle group. I was surprised to receive 2 emails only after an hour of posting up the "offer" message. It was taken by a lady studying in the University of Warwick.

Can you suggest any other ways of recycling unwanted stuff?