Reducing landfill starts with second hand furniture

One of the issues with trying to be more environmentally friendly is that it’s hard to know where to start. In addition, there seems to be so many big issues that it’s easy to think that one person can’t make much of a difference.

Well, here’s one way that you can do your bit for the environment and it’s fun, won’t take much effort and can potentially save you lots of money. Simply start buying second hand furniture and recycling your furniture when you no longer want it.

Recycle your second hand furniture

Many Adelaide councils have hard rubbish collections so it can be tempting to simply put furniture that you don’t want on your nature strip and let the council do their thing. That’s okay if your furniture is rubbish, but if it’s in reasonable condition, make the effort to give it a second life.

There are many ways to recycle your used furniture in the Adelaide area, including:

Selling it in an online marketplace.
Taking it to an op shop or other charity.
Giving your furniture to any friends, family or neighbours who would like it.
If you’re purchasing new furniture, see if your furniture store does trade-ins.
Organise a garage sale or take your furniture along to a car boot sale.

Another excellent way of making sure the furniture you don’t want is repurposed is to simply call Gary’s Bazaar on 0412 681 882 or book a collection of your second hand furniture on our website. We will come and collect your furniture at no charge. With furniture, generally, we donate it to op shops in the Adelaide area and sell some in our warehouse to cover our costs.

The only proviso is that the furniture needs to be in usable condition (no rubbish, broken or damaged items) and must be of reasonable quality (no chipboard or flat pack furniture will be taken).

What a waste of good furniture

What difference would one chair, table or sofa not going to landfill make? Not a lot, to be fair, but if everyone took the above approve and looked at recycling their furniture, it could make a huge difference.

According to an article on the Handkrafted website, on average, each Australian households disposes of around 24 kilograms of wooden furniture per year via the kerbside alone. This includes soft furnishings such as sofas and armchairs.

For a city the size of Sydney, that’s around 48,000 tonnes of second hand furniture that goes to waste and approximates to around 800,000 three-seater sofas, 1.65 million dining tables, 3.4 million coffee tables and 6.84 million chairs. What a waste!

Buy second hand furniture and only buy quality new furniture

The other big thing that will make a difference when it comes to furniture is to be considerate when it comes to purchasing.

Yes, you should consider second hand furniture when you need an item for your home and if you live in Adelaide Gary’s Bazaar is a great option. It can be fun trying to find the items that you’re looking for and you may only spend a fraction of what you would if you bought the furniture new.

The other thing more Australians should do is to make smart choices when buying new furniture. Much of the furniture that is ending up on kerbsides and in landfill is mass produced cheap items, such as chipboard and flat pack furniture.

When you are in the market for new furniture, try to focus on quality items that have been built professionally using timber and other quality materials. Yes, it will cost you more initally, however, it can save you in the long run.

And you’ll also be helping to save the planet!