Purging

There is something very cathartic about have a good clearout.

I’m not having a good clearout at the moment, nor a bad clearout for that matter, but I have been slowly whittling down ‘stuff’ for the past few months and everytime I tackle another little batch I do feel very pleased with myself.

By nature I’m neat and tidy. I’m not quite so bad that everything must be in an exact place and I’m more than happy to just bung things in a drawer out of the way, but I do like my minimalism and with that is a need to keep clutter down to a … err … minimum.

I’ve no grand plan in place for any of this instead I’m taking the opportunities as they arise. This evening, whilst hunting for my Microsoft Office installation CDs, I found myself elbow deep in a big plastic box of computer paraphernalia and my inner “declutterer” kicked in.

I now have a bag of software CDs (all crap, the stuff you get installed on a Dell and which I immediately uninstall), a variety of USB cables, an ancient web cam and three power adapters for items which I no longer own. At least I don’t think I still own them, truth is I may never have owned them and just inherited the adapters from.. somewhere…

In the midst of all this I was checking the printer cable and realised that when I got the printer (a year ago?) I neglected to remove the previous power cable. So, for the last year, whilst I’ve been struggling with getting enough power sockets in this room, all along there was a plug that was plugged in to the socket but which had nothing on the other end. Doh.

The next question is what to do with this bag of random computer ‘stuff’. Whilst I could eBay off each individual item the hassle would outweigh the profit (I reckon if I got £10 for the lot I’d be lucky), charity shops don’t take electrical stuff usually so… bin? Really?

What a waste. Surely there is some way of recycling these things? (and no, not Freecycle, again not worth the hassle!).

Anyone got any ideas?

Comments

  1. Ugh Gordon! Your post title made me gasp in horror. I’ve just spent the WHOLE day writing multiple choice questions on gas purging for gas compression systems. Is there no end to the torture!?

    (We too are having a clearout this weekend- I say we, but I really have to do it alone when all the hoarders are out)

  2. If you find a good way of getting rid of your ‘stuff’ let me know. I’ve got a couple of webcams, couple of older iPods, USB hubs and erm… far too much stuff lying around (router anyone?). Maybe I should stop upgrading so often – that would help.

  3. Our local authority has a bin at the tip, sorry, “waste recycling centre” that is labelled “small electricals”. Under the WEEE regulations, they have to provide facilities to recycle this stuff. So all your power adapters and things go in there and they will remove the heavy metals safely (MUCH MUCH better than putting them in landfill) and get a lot of the other stuff out for re-use. Our tip also has a bin for cable, again so that the metals can be re-used and the plastic disposed of safely.

    So, if FreeCycle/eBay is not an option, this should be your next best thing.

  4. I am planning a clearout of that kind of stuff too, and as I do know where you live, let me know if the ‘dump’ or waste recycling centre do have a facility for this, also ,Gordon, do they still have Lucky the dog there?

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