Since we end up having large quantities of some gear that's rarely used but is earned while trying to earn gear we do need...
How about give us a gear exchange where we can trade 2 of any gear for 1 of any other gear of the same tier. Or 5 of any gear for 1 piece of gear the next tier up. Or 10 of any gear for 1 piece that is 2 tiers higher.
So those commonly used tier 1 items that I must keep farming for no reason because they're in EVERYTHING I could instead trade some other tier 1 gear for it.