| Spring cleaning... Or self-storage? |
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| Written by morgenhund | |||
| Wednesday, 21 March 2012 01:00 | |||
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As Spring arrives, the dreaded expression of “spring cleaning” rears its head again. Many Expats are perhaps quite good at not getting sentimentally attached to clutter, living in smaller flats than if permanently located in a city, and not acquiring a vast amount of possessions. Given that many flats come with cellars, which if dry can allow a good amount of extra storage for possessions that are either needed only seasonally or infrequently, storage space is not always such a problem.However, if you are here for the longer haul, a regular spring clean and chuck out is a necessity to stop wardrobes from overflowing, cupboards from being over-filled and bookshelves from collapsing under the weight of books and periodicals gathering dust which are never likely to be read again. If this latter situation sounds familiar, then there are several options available. Drivers will know that changing between winter and summer tyres (Winter-/Sommerreifen) usually means having two sets of tyres for your car – which in turn means that the tires need to be stored somewhere. Some tyre services will store as well as change your tyres for you, which might be an invaluable service unless you have a garage. If you are looking to declutter, clothes that are still in wearable condition can be placed in the many collection bins for Humana or Caritas – there are many dotted around the city (see the links at the end of this article). The city’s refuse collection service (operated by MA48), known affectionately as the “48er” don’t just rudely awake you in the morning to take out your wheely bins, but also do special collections for various items. Household chemicals (e.g. oils, left over paint, floor treatments) should be brought to a collection point (Sammelstelle) also operated by them. There are also a lot of second hand shops that accept donations. Small electronic goods (usually with maximum dimensions of the longest side of about 50-60cm) can be taken to a collection point also operated by the MA48 – there are many mobile collection points with fortnightly collections. Sadly, many people dump old electronic goods (microwaves, TVs, computers) on the street, in the hope that someone might be able to use them and this all adds to the costs of rubbish collection as they are frequently found littering residential areas and often house management companies have to pay for their proper disposal. Books can be set into the wild via book crossing services – there are plenty of places around the city centre that operate, but this is probably only suitable for small amounts of books at a time. Charity shops also often accept books. Online classified and auction sites (like eBay, willhaben.at, bazar.at) also allow people to sell their unwanted items second hand. Last but not least there is the Vienna Expats fleamarket! Alternatively, if you really don’t want to get rid of items, there are a number of self-storage options – a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular and frequent in European cities for people who do not have enough storage at home. Vienna is also not excluded from this option. However, it is worthwhile considering whether you will ever actually use the items in storage again. Some locations are hard to reach for example one provider’s Vienna storage centre is actually in Stockerau (Lower Austria), while other services have a number of locations around the city – which makes them more convenient (e.g. Myplace.at). Links: Humana www.humana.at For locations of textile collection “bins” call 01 869 3813-10 or send a mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Caritas www.caritas-wien.at Items can be deposited in Caritas shops MA48 (German only) www.abfall.wien.at Deindepot.at - www.deindepot.at/lagerraum-wien.html
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 March 2012 01:26 |
