I moved house a few months ago and since taking part in the yearlong Living Well With Less Stuff challenge from March 2013 – March 2014 I decided to stick to my new habits and source second hand stuff wherever possible. The first “stuff” related stage of moving house for me has all been about getting rid of stuff in a sustainable way as I’ve moved to a smaller home. I’ve taken bags of clothes and bric-a-brac to the charity shops, listed a whole load of things on Freecycle, sold a few nicer things on eBay, given things to friends, arranged a charity shop to collect two large items of furniture and even put things outside my front door with a label on them asking people to help themselves. The experience has been really positive so far and sometimes quite surprising. I was particularly surprised that the items I put outside my house for anyone to take started to disappear within the hour and there was nothing left the next day! If I’d had to take these items to the recycling depo myself if would have been hard work and cost me time and petrol so the doorstep solution was wonderful! An unanticipated benefit has also been the lovely feeling from knowing your items are helping someone else or just going to be enjoyed. My old sofa has gone to a homeless charity, my old tv was collected by a family who’s tv broke and they couldn’t afford a new one and my beanbag is being enjoyed by children at an afterschool reading club. My next task is to find the things I’d like for my new place second hand – I hope it’s as positive an experience as getting rid of stuff has been.