Fall Cleaning – 6 Ways to Clean out Your Closet

One easy way to live greener is to reduce waste you’d typically kick to the curb. 

To my friends I’m commonly refered to as  “JuleBay.”  My nickname  (derived from being an E-Bay connoisseur) actually symbolizes my aspiration to live green.  When I visited my eldest brother in Denver, I thought he was crazy for selling his CDs & movies.  But between my iPod, Netflix & local library, why should I keep a storage facility in my humble abode when mostly everything’s on-demand?  Therefore, I jumped on the e-Bay bandwagon to rid myself of  excess “stuff”.  Instead of pitching memorabilia, old cell phone chargers, CDs and books, I’ve sold them on E-bay so others can enjoy. 

So how do you save materials (that aren’t easily recycled) from the landfill?  Here’s 6 ways to clean your closet:

• Donate (lightly) used good to libraries or local nonprofits.  Donation centers such as Goodwill give tax deductions when you give used goods to those less fortunate.  Click here to donate used books, CDs, DVDs or tapes to the Free Library of Philadelphia.  Click here to find Goodwill centers in Philadelphia) 
• Sell old CDs, DVDs and books/textbooks on websites such as Half.com or Amazon.com.  On Half.com, the listings never expire. 
• Convert your music collection to digital.  You can ‘rip’ your CD collection onto an external hard drive to avoid using precious computer space – Plus, all your music will be in one convenient place.
• Consider a yardsale.  You can advertise in your neighborhood or online and sell items right from your curb/yard!  You may not rid yourself of everything, but tou should be able to make a dent in your house’s inventory.  
• List memorabilia or little-found items on E-Bay.  You can make a profit from items you no longer use.    
• Visit your local library instead of buying books or CDs.  Most libraries have extensive catalogs available on-line so you can reserve a few items you’d like to check out.   

So when you’re doing your Fall cleaning , think of where your used goods can go so you can do your part of “Reusing!” 

 What other ideas do you have for cleansing yourself of used goods? 

Posted by JuleBay

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher