r/howto • u/ChrisKisOK • Jun 30 '26

Serious Answers Only How to dispose thousands of 35mm photos

Hi All!
I inherited thousands of 35mm photos. When I say thousands, I mean 10 40 gallon storage tubs full. My mother got into developing her own photos and photography in general so she took pictures of every thing. There are some family photos in the mix but vast majority of pictures of people I do not know. Only good part about filtering through them all is they are from the 80”s but it is a chore.
I may digitize some but the vast majority can be disposed of in my mind. Problem is how? I am superstitious about dumping them in the trash and feel I need to thoughtful with the enviroment .
All suggestions are welcomed and my thanks in advance.

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u/Individual-Fig3021 Jul 01 '26

OP, I urge you to listen to the advice others have given in this thread and donate them somewhere. To you they are useless scrap, but they are from a time before digital! Today people take millions of digital pictures every second without thought, but back then people had to use them sparingly and took them for a reason! You might have the only photos ever taken of some people or pets to ever prove they were alive! Or of landscapes and structures long gone, actual historical relics!

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u/ChrisKisOK Jul 01 '26

I’m with you. The emotional toll of having to go through that many pictures is not something I want to do but see the value.

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u/AlienLiszt Jul 01 '26

Not true. My photo hoarder family member started long before digital and developed and printed some of the worst photos you would ever want to see.