Festivals & Rituals · 5 October 2026 · 6 min read
What to Do With Everything You Clear Out Before Diwali
The clearing is the easy part. What to do with the pile afterwards — what can be given away, what genuinely has to be thrown, where electronics and medicines go in Mumbai, and how to stop it coming back.
By Dr. Kimaya Parikh-Ambekar, Vastu consultant, Andheri East, Mumbai
01
The pile is where most clear-outs fail
Almost everyone manages the first half. Cupboards get emptied, the broken things come out, and by evening there is a heap in the hall or on the balcony.
Then nothing happens to it. A week later some of it has gone back into the cupboards, some has migrated to the loft, and the rest sits in a bag behind a door until next Diwali. In Vastu terms the home has not been cleared at all — the weight has simply moved, usually into the north-east or the ब्रह्मस्थान (Brahmasthan, the centre), which are the two zones you least want it in.
Decide where things are going before you start, and sort as you go rather than afterwards.
02
Four piles, not one
Set out four separate bags or boxes before opening a single cupboard. The sorting has to happen at the moment you pick something up, because that is the only moment you will be honest about it.
- Give away — usable clothes, utensils, toys, books, bedding in good condition.
- Recycle — paper, cardboard, glass, metal, and anything electronic.
- Return — medicines, batteries, and anything needing specific disposal.
- Discard — genuinely broken, torn, chipped or expired, and nothing else.
03
What to give away, and where
Clothes in wearable condition, utensils, school books, toys and bedding all find takers quickly in Mumbai. What does not help anyone is giving away what you would not use yourself — torn clothes and broken toys become somebody else's disposal problem.
The usual routes are the building's own staff and their families, a local NGO or orphanage, a gurudwara or temple collection, and the several Mumbai organisations that collect clothing and household goods on request. Many housing societies run a collection point before Diwali; if yours does not, one message in the society group usually starts one.
04
Electronics, batteries and medicines
This is the category that sits in a drawer for years, and it genuinely should not go in with the household waste.
Dead phones, chargers, cables, old routers and small appliances are e-waste. Mumbai has registered e-waste collectors, several brands run take-back schemes, and most scrap dealers will take metal and appliances. Batteries should go with the e-waste rather than the general bin.
Expired medicines should not be flushed or binned loose. Some pharmacies and hospitals run take-back arrangements; where none is available, the standard advice is to remove them from their packaging, mix them with something unpalatable such as used tea leaves, seal them in a bag and dispose of them with dry waste — never within reach of children or animals.
- Phones, chargers, cables, appliances — registered e-waste collector or scrap dealer.
- Batteries — with the e-waste, never the general bin.
- Medicines — pharmacy take-back where it exists, otherwise sealed and with dry waste.
- Paint, solvents, CFL bulbs — hazardous, and handled separately by the BMC.
- Glass and ceramics — wrap before disposal so nobody handling it is cut.
05
What genuinely has to go
The list is short, and in Vastu these are the categories consistently named: broken mirrors, chipped and cracked crockery, clocks that have stopped, torn mats, dead plants and dried flowers, pens that do not write, and anything that has been waiting for a repair that is not going to happen.
The test worth applying is a date rather than an intention. If something has been waiting to be mended, give it a date this month. If the date passes, it is broken, and keeping it is the thing the tradition is asking you to stop doing.
06
Stopping it coming back
Most homes refill within three months, and usually in the same two places: the north-east corner and the centre of the flat.
Two habits hold. The first is that anything new coming into the home replaces something rather than joining it. The second is that the north-east and the middle of the floor plan are not storage — whatever lands there gets moved the same week.
That is the whole of it. Diwali gives you a cleared home once a year; those two habits are what keep it that way in February.
Questions
Frequently asked
What should be thrown away before Diwali?
Broken mirrors, chipped crockery, stopped clocks, torn mats, dead plants, dried flowers and anything waiting for a repair that is not going to happen. Give pending repairs a date; if it passes, treat the item as broken.
Where can I dispose of old electronics in Mumbai?
Through a registered e-waste collector, a brand take-back scheme or a scrap dealer. Batteries go with the e-waste rather than the general bin, and nothing electronic belongs in household waste.
How should expired medicines be disposed of?
Through a pharmacy or hospital take-back where one exists. Otherwise remove them from their packaging, mix with something unpalatable such as used tea leaves, seal in a bag and put out with dry waste — never loose and never within reach of children or animals.
Is it unlucky to give away old things?
No. Giving usable items away is the traditional preference over discarding them. What does not help is passing on things you would not use yourself, which simply moves the disposal problem to someone else.
Why does the clutter come back every year?
Because the sorting usually happens after the clearing rather than during it, so the pile moves rather than leaves. Sorting into give-away, recycle, return and discard as you go is what makes the difference.
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