Spring Clean a more sustainable way in 2023!

Spring Clean a more sustainable way in 2023!

It’s officially springtime and many of you might be thinking of doing a sort out. This month’s blog is revisiting a post we published during lockdown which was how to recycle, reuse, repurpose items that youmay have decided to throw away.

Some of the links have changed or expired so we’ve updated them to show you more ways to ‘dispose’ of items you no longer need so you can still spring clean in a more sustainable way. Here's our fresh guide to helping you help our planet by redirecting our unwanted belongings away from landfill!

If you’re procrastinating on doing a spring clean then you may want to read the recently published ‘Change Your Space’ ; written by the super organiser Dilly Carter, founder of Declutter Dollies and part of Stacy Solomon’s team on BBC’s ‘Sort your life out’ it promises to be a good read and may motivate you to get started!

Yvette and I both know how quickly children grow out of their shoes & clothes and we still use Sweet Pea Preloved Clothes for kids wear. They now go up to age 14 which is a change from our previous post and there is also a website for womenswear; only if you aren’t able to consign to a local Willow & Eve of course! There are several selling categories and postage options, see website here for more information.

Thrift + is also a good alternative for clothing items that we're unable to consign with the proceeds going to a charity of your choice. Thrift+ take both womenswear and menswear See how it works here.

'Recycling For Good Causes' is another option. Willow & Eve Rustington have now got a box in store to recycle jewellery (unwanted or damaged items of gold, silver, costume jewellery and watches).

They also take mobile phones, gadgets, cameras,stamps, coins & currency and accept a variety of items with proceeds going to a number of charities, with proceeds going to a charity of your choice. You can request a sack, box or envelope free of charge,depending on your needs or for your larger ‘recycling project’.

Traidcraft, who we mentioned in the previous post, has now ceased trading. ‘Transform Trade’ is the new name for the Traidcraft Exchange, which supports a ‘global community which values people over profit’.

If you wish to donate your unused jewellery to them, they also redirect you to ‘Recycling For Good Causes’. See the link to request an envelope or jiffy bag.

If you’re doing a wardrobe cleanse I always suggest starting with a small category of clothing like socks or bras. This way you can build up to a bigger category,usually tops, and by that time you’ll be more confident in the process and more likely to be ruthless.

If you discard any bras there may be a bra bank near you. Locally Mia Casa Bella in Rustington supported the ’Bring us your bras’ campaign for the charity ‘Against Breast Cancer’. If you missed the deadline you can still send your unwanted bras to them at:

Recycling Scheme, Against Breast Cancer, LeathemHouse, 13 Napier Court, Barton Lane, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 3YT.

On a recent trip to Battersea Power Station Shops it was encouraging to see more retailers embrace the ‘make do & mend’ philosophy. In Uniqlo, the Japanese brand known for their down jackets, thermal underwear and affordable jeans, they offered a repair service. The Re-Uniqlo studio can also repurpose or customise your second hand clothes. The service is currently only available in two London stores, but hopefully it will be rolled out in the future.

In their Battersea flag ship store Zara was also promoting their ‘Resell/Zara’ service; an online platform which works in a similar way to Vinted, but customers get 100% of the selling price. T&C’s apply.

Over the last year we’ve noticed our best-selling preloved brands, like Jigsaw, are getting more expensive. With rising inflation & cost of production squeezing profits, it’s no surprise. Jigsaw now offer a repair, re-wear and rental service under the ‘JigsawForever’ banner to promote their sustainability mission.

It’s refreshing to see more premium and boutique brands offering resale or repair services as shopping preloved becomes more mainstream. For further reading this is a great article ‘5 Simple Styling tips from a Sustainable personal stylist’ .

As the cost of living crisis takes hold you might look at other ways you can free up funds. As you’ll probably have a photo album dedicated to your special day and your dream dress you may think about selling on your wedding dress.

We often get asked if we consign bridal gowns. Unfortunately, we aren’t the specialists when it comes to preloved bridal but we direct our customers to those that are.

If you want to sell yourself, we recommend Still Whiteand Hitched or again locally we have a branch of Bridal Reloved in Rustington. If you’re a recent bride please make sure you have your gorgeous dress cleaned professionally soon after the wedding day. If it’s in tip top condition you’ll be able to sell it for more. I’d also recommend you sell it within four years of the wedding to get the maximum preloved value!

Willow & Eve mainly sell premium and boutique preloved with just a sprinkling of designer goods.

For designer items Vestiaire Collective, one of the original designer resale sites, has been joined by a few others. Harpers Bazaar has a great article naming the best platforms for designer preloved, including Ritesand theRealReal. There’s just no excuse now not to buy preloved!

From our previous post remember to recycle your Ink cartridges at Zero Waste Recycling. According to their website 45,000,000 ink cartridges in the UK each year end up in landfill. You have to pay for a branded recycling box but it’s worth it especially if you are alarge organisation.

Coffee pod recycling Podback make it easier to recycle your aluminium containers. In our house we request the bags, fill them and then take them to our nearest participating Collect+ collection points. It makes your daily habit a bit more guilt free!

Did you know that this British lifestyle brand Barbour offer a repair and re-waxing service for those items that may be past their best? Also Mulberry offer a care and repair service. They are the specialists to go to, especially if you need any hardware replacing from your plaques to your army ends! See their repair guide here.The update here is you may have to present proof of purchase.

Trainer Restoration offer cleaning, re-dye or customisation services for your most loved Adidas trainers. The trainer clean and refresh is now £14 and other options can be found on the website here.

Obviously, this is by no means an exhaustive list but anything you can do to redirect items from landfill is a great way to spring clean a more sustainable way!

Happy Spring cleaning 2023!

Karen Skagerlind.