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One area of decluttering that I always seem to struggle with is our electronic devices. All of our other items go straight to the charity shop which is pretty straightforward. Well, it is after I’ve driven around with the bags in my boot for at least a month. Please, tell me I’m not the only one that does this?
With our electronics, I just never really know what to do with them, so they usually end up in a drawer where I can conveniently forget about them. In the drawer, at the moment I currently have my old iPhone, my son’s old tablet that has a cracked screen and my kindle which I never use.
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Declutter your Electronic Devices
The best way to declutter your electronic devices is to get them all together in one place and see what you’ve got. By all, I really mean everything! Every tablet, every phone, every fitness tracker, every games console the whole lot.
It’s also worth your while to get out all of the corresponding charges for each gadget. Do they all still work? Do you have duplicates for the same device? Match up your gadgets to their charges and lay them all out in front of you.
Then sort through which ones you actually use and want to keep and which ones you could get rid of. Sort the ones, you want to get rid of into two different piles broken or working.
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Organise your Gadgets
Now find permanent homes for the electronic devices you want to keep. Personally, we bought a *bamboo charging station for all of our gadgets and I love it! At the end of the day, all gadgets go back there to be charged. That way everyone knows where to find them.
This may not work for everyone but it’s something to consider. Whatever way you choose to organise your devices just make sure you stick to it. Everything must have a home.
With the charges, it’s a good idea to label them all so you remember which one charges which device. I did this by *using my label maker. I love my label maker!
Now you need to decide what you want to do with the devices you no longer want.
What To Do with Unwanted Electronic Devices
There are actually quite a few options available to you. The main ones; sell them, donate them or recycle them.
Sell
I really should sell my iPhone as it’s still usable I just needed an upgrade for work for the better camera. When I did a bit of investigating I found lots of companies online where you can do this.
I’d definitely recommend this as your first option if your device is still in good working order. You probably spent quite a bit of money on it originally so if you can get some of that back then that’s always a good thing.
Donate
There are various charities out there that will happily take your old electronics off your hands. It’s always worth doing a bit of research to find out who takes what.
I imagine most charities would want electronics that are in good working order so this probably wouldn’t be an option if they are broken.
If you can’t find a suitable charity then why not see if any of your friends would like your device?
Recycle
If the two options above don’t work for you then please do consider recycling your gadgets rather than just throwing them in the bin. If it goes in the bin it will end up in landfill.
Most recycling centres these days have an electronics section. Failing that there are companies online that will recycle your gadgets for you. iPad-Recycle is one great online recycling option for conveniently exchanging your old iPad and Apple accessories for some extra cash.
So what about you? Do you have an unwanted gadgets drawer?
About Gina Caro
Gina is a content creator and award-winning blogger. Her aim is to help you live a more sustainable & simple life. Her blog covers zero waste, minimalism, wellbeing & thrift. She currently lives in Cornwall with her partner, two kids and Charles the dog.
We literally have a big drawer filled with 30+ electronics that we no longer use! I know, it’s pretty bad but I’m looking forward to downsizing by donating most of them. Now for the non-functional items, I believe here in the US, BestBuy has a box where you can deposit them. Thank you for this article! 😊
I think everyone has an overflowing electronics drawer. Glad you liked the article.
Just the post I was looking for. I am moving in a few weeks and am trying to declutter my electronics once and for all. I tend to just haul old electronics from place to place because I don’t know what to do with them. I have found a local recycling site, so will be making my way there soon 🙂
Hi Lizzy, I hope you’re move went well and you managed to recycle your devices?
We have an eco bag at home full of electronic devices and wires and all the chargers not being used. I’m seriously thinking of how to declutter them and how to get rid of them because they’re accumulating dusts already. My mom kinda don’t want to throw them out because she said we may use sometime in the future. But COME ON. Electronic devices change through time and that’s not even a long time. Ugh, hopefully I’d be able to sell some of them soon. Anyways, thanks for the tips, Gina! 🙂
I’m also guilty of keeping things in case we might need them in the future but like you said electronics go out of date so fast these days that it’s highly unlikely we will use them again! It’s always best to get rid of them of pass them onto someone that will use them 🙂