š° 2023 Intentional Spring Cleaning Guide š
Spring cleaning but better. Here's a guide on better ways to dispose of things you no longer want! ā»š®
For those who know me, Iām rather superstitious.
Itās part of tradition for households to do all the spring cleaning before the Lunar New Year so that you get rid of all the bad juju before the new year.
But with Lunar New Year happening so early this year - January, what gives! - I have not had the time to get that done. And I also donāt want to do in hastily by throwing everything to the waste bin or guilt-dumping them at a Salvation Army.
This time of the year sees donation bins filled to the brim by well-intentioned folks who want to throw things away in better ways but donāt actually do it well. When trying to dispose of items responsibly - be it recycling, rehoming, repairing etc - it takes time.
So letās not rush this.
Our systems are not yet set up to make these methods the status quo. I hope that one day this gets easier.
But letās get real though.
While well-intentioned, I am also highly skeptical of various recycling initiatives where thereās little transparency over where things end up (read more here). Hence, hereās a guide of my top, trusted picks on where you can dispose of your spring-cleaned goods in better ways.
Note: If youāre donating your goods, only donate them if theyāre in good, usable condition.
Rehome clothes and accessories in good condition
Sell your clothes to Carousell! Carousell has launched a new service with their subsidiary, REFASH, allowing you to sell your clothes in bulk. The returns arenāt as great but itās a quick option if you want to get some small cash and get rid of stuff quick. They even have a payout estimator available on the app. (How-to here)
Facebook marketplace is also another great option to rehome your goods quickly. You can also join Groups such as Secondhand IKEA, Journey to Zero-Waste Life in Singapore, Singapore Expat Preloved Clothing Classifieds and more.
Besides Salvation Army, you can also donate your items to secondhand stores like New2U, SSVP, Something Old Something New, The Barn, Nightingale, Reborn Thrift Shop, MINDS Shops.
You can also donate working items to our migrant workers. Its Raining Raincoats has a list of items that theyāre looking for (wishlist here). Think items like sunglasses, menās shoes, umbrellas, shaving cream.
Places do get overwhelmed by unwanted clothes - very telling of Singaporeansā consumption habits. If you do re-home them, please be considerate (we donāt want a repeat of what happened at the Salvation Army).
Rehome your usable luggages
Its Raining Raincoats is also looking for preloved luggages to share them with migrant workers who need them. So if thatās something that you have, please drop them a note!
Repair and restyle old clothes with Alt.native
Alt.native is a local initiative that refashions clothes. Refashioning is a way to upcycle preloved clothing by transforming them into something new and wanted. ā. They connect you with experienced individuals to get stuff made into all sorts of things that you will now rewear. I got my then-too-tight dress turned into a chic toga top!
You might also have a tailor near you if you give it a quick search on Google Maps. (Psst, some of us are building a map to point out where you can find places to repair items. Repair > Replace!)
Give away your things for FREE!
Freecycling is a growing concept where you give away (something used or unwanted) things, as opposed to selling it or throwing it away.
If you want to get started, Facebook Groups like Singapore Neighbourhood Freecycle or Plant Freecycling Singapore are great places to start.
You can also list items as āFreeā on Carousell to giveaway your items.
Alternatively, consider downloading the Olio which is an app that can help facilitate you giving things away to your neighbours!
Furthermore, animal welfare organization, ACRES, has a wishlist of items such as wall fans, cable ties, newspaper (and more) that theyād need to care for our animals. Check out their wishlist here!
Recycle clothes that are not in great condition
Cloop is a local organization that aims to close the fashion loop. Iāve been doubtful of a lot of ātextile recyclingā initiatives touted by various fashion brands (why? read about it here) but Cloop is one organization I deeply trust to care about where and how clothes end up.
They are partnership with Malaysian-based textile recycler, Life Line Clothing, and disposed textiles are sorted by hand into about 500 categories for the three main purposes ā reuse, upcycling, and recycling.
Besides having their own clothing swap initiative at City Sprouts, you can find their textile recycling bins all over Singapore. Locate the nearest one here.
You can even request to have a Private bin - corporations, do give them a go!
Recycle shoes that are not in great condition
ActiveSG has a shoe recycling program to turn used sport shoes into all sorts of things like sports surfaces. While I havenāt really gone deep to research and see how this happens (Iād like to verify the environmental impact of these initiatives!), itās one of the very few initiatives for people to recycle old shoes. I am however a bit curious as to how the initiative will manage the very many different materials that are in a shoe besides just rubber.
Reuse unused makeup!
This one is a new one - local funeral service provider, Casket Fairprice, is seeking donations of unused makeup to be used for embalming. Find out more here.
Recycle unwanted electronics
I often donāt know where to dispose of my electronic waste because I donāt want sh*t to just leak out and contaminate other trash or the environment. But ALBA bins in Singapore can accept selected e-waste and their bins are all over the island! Locate the nearest one here.
For e-waste that they do not collect, there are other specific collectors you can contact here. The caveat is that it probably might cost a bit (for transport) and is often located in an inconvenient location. Ugh.
Rehome books you no longer read
If you have books you donāt read, feel free to donate them to meaningful organizations such as A Million Books, Books Beyond Borders, Thryft.
Our local libraries (and parks!) may also have book exchange corners for you to leave a book and even take one. But with these public things, please donate responsibly.
If youāre not in a rush to get rid of these books, wait for the next run of Books & Beer, which is Singaporeās longest running travelling book swap - with an icy cold twist! Bring some books, swap it with whatās available and grab a cuppa!
Recycling your angpaos?
This one irks me a lot. Because we print SO MANY angpaos that probably only gets used once or twice before itās thrown away.
While organizations and corporations have angpao recycling initiatives (locate the nearest one here), I canāt help but feel like we could have done away with so much of this waste by simply not overproducing.
Furthermore, I have tried to find more information on where and how these angpaos are recycled but was met with an unfavourable response last year. Generic responses pointed me towards their paper recycling partner. With the kinds of materials that angpaos use - felt, gloss, fancy schmancy things that arenāt just paper - I truly wonder about their recyclability. Until more information is available, I remain skeptical. Iād love to hear if anyone knows where I can find more info!
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While these are just some of the many ways you can consider disposing of things, maybe itās also time to set intentions to reduce the way we over-consume. Itās not to say go cold turkey, but really being more intentional about how quick and how much stuff we buy.
Iām often overwhelmed by the sheer number of stuff I own. My latest āCloset Auditā showed me that I had over 200 pieces of clothing, and I rewore probably only 20% of my closet.
By consuming more responsibly, we also help ourselves declutter and dispose a lot less frequently and it also gives ourselves time to prolong the use of an item through repairing, reusing, rehoming before disposing.
I hope this helps!
Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate! š§Ø
Kindly,
Qiyun
The Weird and Wild
With some reference from Mothership and CNA.