Where to donate, sell or recycle your things in Geneva, Vaud and Valais

Sofia spent her weekend sorting. Her flat in Carouge can finally breathe. The hallway, though, is blocked: twelve bags of clothes and tableware, a chest of drawers, two chairs, a printer that no longer works. "I don't want to throw it all away. But I don't have time for ten trips."

This is often where decluttering stalls: the bags sit in a corner for weeks. Here is how Sofia cleared everything in one week.

1. Sort by destination, not by room

First, group things by where they will go, not by the room they came from. Four piles are enough: "donate", "sell", "take back to a shop", "recycling centre".

2. Donate: clean things in good condition

• ✓Clothes and shoes: the textile collection containers found in most communes, and charity second-hand shops (Emmaüs, Caritas, Red Cross…).
• ✓Furniture and tableware: local charities and reuse centres — some collect furniture from your home; check their conditions.
• ✓Books: neighbourhood book boxes, libraries and second-hand bookshops.
• ✓Neighbourhood giveaway groups on social media find takers for everyday items within hours.

3. Sell: only what's worth it

Sofia listed the chest of drawers and chairs on a Swiss classifieds platform such as Ricardo, with daylight photos and dimensions. Anything worth less than 20 francs she gave away: the time spent selling costs more than the price you get.

4. Take back: electronics, batteries, medicines

• ✓Electrical and electronic devices: in Switzerland, shops that sell a type of device take back devices of that type free of charge, even if you buy nothing.
• ✓Batteries and light bulbs: collection points in shops.
• ✓Expired medicines: return them to a pharmacy, never to the bin.

5. The recycling centre for the rest

Broken bulky items, paint, chemicals: take them to your commune's recycling centre (in Geneva, the cantonal recovery centres) or use the bulky-waste collection on your commune's calendar. Check opening hours and what's accepted on your commune's website before loading the car.

"Within a week the hallway was empty. And knowing my things are still useful to someone changes everything." — Sofia

We can handle it for you

At LémanSpace, managing donations, resale and recycling is part of every job: we send each item to the right place across Geneva, Vaud and Valais, so nothing is left sitting in your hallway.