Projects

New Year clean-up

With all the Christmas gifting we all start January with a home so full of toys that they spill out of every drawer and cupboard.

A year-start declutter is due! 

Get your kids involved to get them to understand what “enough” is and learn about letting things go. A one toy in, one toy out policy can also help minimise buying new toys later on in the year and giving them boundaries (eg: you can keep a wall full) makes them be feel in charge of things. You can also make a game out of it with this declutter bingo: Free Printable Declutter Bingo Game here!

Each one of these precious toys takes a lot of energy and resources to build so focusing on giving your toys a breath of new life will help the kids part with their beloved items as well as helping the planet! Try a few ideas to save them from landfill:

REPAIR

For toys that have a piece broken try Sustainable Amersham’s New Year Repair Cafe on the 4th of January. Our volunteer repairers may be able to do some magic and you can have a cuppa while experiencing the best Amersham community feeling.

SWAP

Our Toy Swap is coming up on the 1st of February. Save some good condition pre-loved toys and costumes, bring them on the day and swap them for new ones. It is a really cool way to teach our kids about circular economy. And with International Book Day coming there is no better way to get their chosen character’s costume!

SELL

Why not get the older kids to earn a bit of money by selling some of the things you have? Try Facebook Market, eBay or FreeCycle.

DONATE

Charity shops are a great way to give toys a new life and help others at the same time. Try apps like Olio that make the process of rehoming your toys very easy. 

In the highstreet, the Entertainer organises the BIG Toy Rehoming in partnership with the Salvation Army.

RECYCLE

When everything else fails, make sure you recycle! Our local Teracycle collection (working to collect finds for Medic to Medic) will collect not working writing instruments, Hasbro Toys and games, CDs, DVD, video games, lego and some electronics (like phones, iPads etc.). Take batteries to your local recycling point (Tesco will take them) and clean hard plastic can go in your household recycling.

Have a look at more ideas in our latest newsletter.