‘Reduce, reuse and recycle’ is the mantra of waste management. We’re all encouraged to reduce the waste we produce, reuse things instead of throwing them away after one go, and recycle the stuff we do need to throw away.

Car boot sales are great places to practice some of these principles, especially when you’re trying to give unwanted possessions a new lease of life.

What would you do with a double food warmer, consisting of two glass dishes warmed by tea lights? Or a yoghurt maker? Or a rather large collection of cut crystal that used to just live in the store room?

The sheer volume of stuff was taking up a large proportion of the double garage, and it was getting in the way. We could have spent months photographing each item individually and putting it on E-bay or Gumtree. We don’t have either the time or the patience to make this into a major job, though. It was tempting to just drive the whole lot to the dump, no matter how much waste that would generate.

The likelihood is, though, that somebody will love this stuff and give it a new lease of life. All you need to do is get the people and the stuff together in the most efficient way possible. So thank goodness for car boot sales and the people who make a business out of organising them.

We drove up in the Tardis with it’s trailer crammed full of stuff. It was 7am on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday and already there were people keen to buy. We couldn’t unpack the stuff fast enough. Some people were there to pick up a bargain to sell on for a profit. Others were on a shopping trip, browsing for bargains.

The Westacre pitch

We were astonished that we managed to find people willing to re-use the old two bar electric heater, the spin dryer, the old iron and yes, the yoghurt maker. Many bits of pottery and crystal found a loving second home.

And one lady wiped clean our vintage clothing section all by herself. If it turned out they didn’t fit, she was going to re-cycle the material and make her own unique creations.

We had a great time meeting people of every conceivable variety. We had chats about old children’s books, how cheap good quality old furniture is, and the loveliness of Jess the dog. She had a great day being petted by all and sundry.

If you need to find a second life for some of your possessions, do consider a car boot sale. Here are some handy hints.

– find your nearest car boot sale on line. It pays to be patient and find the good ones.
– wait for a sunny day. There will be a lot more potential customers.
– turn up early to get a good pitch and time to set up properly.
– take some money to pay the seller’s fee, and some change for the buyers.
– have snacks and drinks at the ready. It’s a long morning.
– take a supply of plastic bags. We forgot all about those and regretted it.
– enjoy meeting and watching people.

We’ve got some things left over, and will be going to a boot sale just around the corner from us next month. Hopefully we’ll meet some more people willing to reuse and recycle.