There are quite a few options. Sharing either a collection or sharing a trip to a recycling centre with neighbours or friends - reduces the effort, the number of vehicles on the road and shares the cost.In Hounslow small electrical items can be placed out in a carrier bag with the recycling. I'm not sure how big a carrier bag though and how big a smaller item is. It isn't that easy to walk far with a vacuum cleaner - which seems to fall between being a small item and a large item.With white goods eg larger stuff like washing machines and fridges etc it is far easier and cheaper to buy one and get the last one collected and disposed of by the company that you buy from. Check out their websites and book this when you make your purchase.In Ealing there are several small electrical banks in the street but it is quite likely that whatever you want to put in one will be too big - so only pretty small items (of which there are plenty eg hairdryers.Lots of small electrical items can be swapped when you buy a new one in the take back schemes run by electrical shops. Sometimes they also run schemes where they don't even require you to buy a similar new item from them - but you do need to check as those may just be special events. You can often take the item back later so long as you have the receipt within a certain amount of time.In Hounslow, Ealing and several other West London Waste Authority boroughs when you book a clothing collection by TRAID you can add some small electricals. You need to check how much. You could share this with friends and neighbours too.DIY shops often have collection boxes inside their shops for small items. Check out shops like B&Q and Curry's. The supermarkets were doing this too but some no longer seem to be - check out their websites and ask, ask, ask!https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/We are moving towards a circular economy and so the ways of dealing with our stuff will keep on changing as new solutions are found for keeping the earth's resources in use for longer whether in their initial use or being reused in another way.https://relondon.gov.uk/https://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/And don't forget that if there is still life in something and you are just changing it because you want a new one, have been given a new one, are updating etc then there are other ways to find what you have a new home with someone who may need/want what you no longer want. Charities have to have electrical items tested and certified as safe before selling them.DO MARK UP all the plugs, leads and cables of your electronic and electrical items so that you can easily match them to each other when you want to dispose of them and so nobody disposes of anything that they will later regret as it is harder to find a replacement. I now just write with white correcting fluid on the plug but I'm sure labels may be neater. It is easier to recognise those for your own items than those for all the stuff that teenagers acquire.
Philippa Bond ● 1373d