Minimalism in Belgium; how to get rid of all your things

Have you ever traveled to Belgium? Are you thinking about living there, whether it be for a few months or long term? I have a friend who stayed in Brussels for studies. At the end of her stay, she had to pick up and pack all of her possessions before moving on to her next adventure. But what do you do with all of the items you no longer need, the junk you’ve collected during your stay? If you also plan to stay awhile in Belgium, this post is intended to help you maintain a minimalist lifestyle, as well as help you decide how to get rid of all your things.

So just how do you get rid of all your things, during or at the end of your stay?

1. SELLING 2. DONATING 3. RECYCLING

Photo by KAROLINA GRABOWSKA

1. Sell your undesirables

FACEBOOK. Facebook is always a great way to either buy, sell, or give away items. However, make sure to read the rules before joining a group! Some groups I found and think might be helpful are:

STUFF 4 SALE (Brussels)
Brussels SELL/SWAP/BUY/WANT OR GIVE IT AWAY

ONLINE MARKETPLACES. There is also a site called 2dehands (Dutch) or 2ememain (French), which appears to be the equivalent to ebay but for Belgium.

Photo by KAROLINA GRABOWSKA

2. Donate your undesirables

Some notable Belgium organizations for donating are Les Petits Riens, Oxfam-Solidarité, and Groupe Terre.

CLOTHING. Les Petits Riens or Spullenhulp (Dutch) is a “social economy enterprise” originating in Brussels. They manage a variety of second-hand shops all over Belgium. Les Petits Riens has yellow containers for you to deposit old clothing and linens placed in various points in Belgium. You can locate their local bins here. Some of these bins are placed inside their shops; find them here. In the containers, they accept a variety of fabric items such as clothing, shoes(tie them together), rags, linens, sheets, leather items, lingerie, towels, “soft toys” and accessories. They ask that all of these items be clean and in good condition. Learn more about their requirements here.

Oxfam-Solidarité is an international charity which, like Les Petits Riens, also has many second-hand shops all around Belgium. Inside, one can make clothing and linen donations. Their clothing donation containers are the color green, and you can find their store and container locations here. Once again, donations must contain clean clothing, without holes or tears, and placed in bags before deposited in the bins. Tie together shoes, socks, gloves, and any other paired items.

Groupe Terre is another charity organization comprised of several organizations with various services. Like the companies mentioned above, they also have storefronts and donation bins around the country. You can find their recycling bins here. In these bins, you can donate clothing(cleaned), leather items, shoes (tie them together), and linen found in the home.

BOOKS, FURNITURE & MORE. You can also rely on Les Petits Riens or Spullenhulp for these types of donations as well! They have material donation centers where they take furniture, objects, and fabrics(textiles). Find their locations and hours here. Les Petits Riens also has home collection services (availability will vary due to covid).

Photo by Lisa Fotios

3. Recycling

Other than recycling clothing and furniture, you can also recycle everything else. Here’s what you put in each bin.

RECYCLING BINS

GREEN → Glass. Place glass jars, glass containers, and bottles in the green bins found in apartment areas. You can also deposit them at bottle banks found all over. Click here to locate them. Note: Transparent bottles and jars will go into the white bin whereas the colorful ones should go into the green one. Remove any metal, cork, or plastics lids before recycling.

YELLOW →Paper & Cardboard. This includes items such as general cardboard boxes, paper bags, magazines and books, toilet-paper-rolls and loose-leaf paper.

BLUE →PMD Packaging. This means plastic containers, metal containers and drink cartons. Deposit plastic containers and bottles, such as water bottles, juices, yogurt, fruit containers, washing detergent, ect. For metals, deposit cans, tins, the metal lids found from glass jars and bottles, and aluminum serving dishes. For drink cartons, put in those box-shaped containers that hold milk, juice, soup, etc.

ORANGE →Food Waste. This bin primarily takes leftovers and scraps. Think of this bin as collectors of compost items. This would include napkins and paper towels, dirt, expired food, coffee grounds, tea bags, etc.

Here is a great resource for recycling in Belgium! I suggest checking it out for a more thorough recycling explanation. It even explains how to recycle items belonging to more unique categories, including medicine and electronics.

4. Final Thoughts

I enjoyed my time traveling in Belgium. Only stopping by Brussels and Brugge, I never stayed long enough to accumulate a multitude of items that would hinder me the next time I pack. Should this be the case for you wherever you travel in the country, Belgium has loads of options at your disposal. I hope you find this content helpful, and that no matter where you are in the world, you take the minimalist movement with you!

I want to say thank you to my friend Shannon for guiding my research for this article. And to the rest of you, may you continue adventuring towards a life that fulfills you!

Featured photo by filippofaccendini

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