With "the time of giving" coming up, and the ubiquitous sales that follow, this is the season to be throwing out old possessions. Often though these old possessions still have many years of life left in them, and there are many ways to find them a new home.

Of course, if you can avoid buying unnecessary new things, that's by far the best strategy, but if you do find yourself with things to throw away, the following list might help you avoid sending them to landfill.

Charity collections. Lots of organisations occasionally deliver bags you can fill with unwanted clothing, household goods and bric-a-brac. Not all of these are charities, so if this is important to you, make sure you use one from a well-known charity such as the British Heart Foundation or Cancer Research.

Charity shops. If you can't wait for a collection, you can of course always take the goods to a local charity shop. There are plenty in Cambridge to choose from, mainly centred around Fitzroy St and Bridge St.

Emmaus. Emmaus (tel: 01223 863657) is a charity in Landbeach helping homeless people by providing work, housing and training. They will recycle and re-sell your old furniture, electrical goods (which many other charities won't take), kitchen appliances, as well as those that most other charity shops will take.

Tools for Self Reliance. (tel: 01954 203235 email: contact@cambridgetfsr.org.uk) Another charity this time specialising in recycling and refurbishing hand tools, before sending them for a new life in Africa. They are particularly interested in hand tools rather than power tools. There is a collection point in Mackay's on East Rd in Cambridge.

Freecycle. Freecycle is an internet mailing list. If you join you can advertise goods you no longer want and are happy to give away. If someone else wants them, they will arrange to come and collect them from you. You can also receive details of other people's unwanted possessions, and so benefit both ways. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cambridgefreecycle/

Green Father Christmas in Girton!. On Sunday 14th January as part of our Green Christmas celebration, Father Christmas will again be visiting Girton to collect unwanted gifts and other goods (in good condition) for distribution for charities.

This list is far from exhaustive, and if you know of any others we'd love to hear from you so we can compile a definitive local directory.

As well as just being ways to avoid sending things to landfill, all these organisations are great sources of secondhand things. Making donations is only half of the story - buying things from them instead of buying new is the other!