My goal is to ETA: LIVE LIFE HAVE FUN DO WHAT I LOVE AND REDUCE THE CHAOS OF EVERYTHING THAT GETS IN THE WAY OF THAT! I'LL post the reductions made in order to simplify my life. This includes all aspects of my life. I will share the steps of the journey, the trials, errors and successes. I hope to inspire others and keep myself accountable. I am also passionately creative, this seems at odds with simplicity at times, but makes me happy! Find the Happy Balance.
There have been many smaller things as well as some larger projects that inevitable we dive into without remembering to take pictures of. The biggest of these is the Medicine stash and under sink area. I thought it was fairly tidy, but wanted to make things more accessible. In the end I had a small grocery bag of trash (old, unused prescriptions, old product, cotton balls, etc.), numerous boxes to recycle, and about 12 medicine bottles to recycle. We always fill prescriptions, then perhaps don't use them. Or we don't use all of it, and save it...why? we will go to the doctor and get a new prescription. I think we feel we pay too much for it, so we keep it "in case", those Armageddon movies are not good for the hoarder in us, we might need those antibiotics if there are no more to be found....???? Most of them went ;) I did this project at night, and recycled the next morning, never thinking to take a photo of the outgoing. Interesting even after the impressive cleanout, I had too much left to fit it all in the drawer i had designated to this cause. The two bins on the top shelf are still there where they are difficult to access, granted they are not often needed, but if I need bandages it would be nice to get them easily. So this will need to be gone through again.
I have heard that you should not leave your labels on medicine bottles, as they contain personal information. Just peel most of it off, it only takes a few extra seconds. I am working to not just reduce my belongings, but to reduce the amount I am sending to the landfill--yes, even if it is incinerated first, it still goes to the landfill ultimately--plus all that air pollution....
While recycling is better than land-filling, there is a point at which those materials are beyond recycling (check the packaging of a product touting that it is made of recycled materials, and you will may note that it is not recyclable, such as egg cartons). I am working hard to avoid creating any further demand for materials that will end up in the recycle bin after just a few used. However, I believe that prescription bottles are something that is out of our control, unless we can stay healthy and find alternative medicines. Most states will not fill a re-usable jar. Luckily we don't get that many prescriptions.
I have a LOT of material for sewing. Too much. So I slated some to leave and then decided not to because it was too much to decide. Then very suddenly decided to just pull a 'good amount' off of the shelves. About 17 bolts of fabric left.
Funny the shelves are still full looking. Obviously there has to be more space there than before...
I don't think I will miss it. Wonder how many pounds that was? A Lot, my husband was a dear and carried it all for (for the second time, the first being into the house). I hope it all finds a use. I often wonder how much of the stuff i give to others who want it just ends up in a landfill eventually. Well, I have done my best, I was a good steward, kept it in good usable condition and passed it on.
Here is a major plus, I had about 25 requests for my 2 gallons of ceiling paint after posting it on Freecycle! But coordinating a pick up was amazingly difficult, with people asking me to drive 45 minutes to drop it off?! Well when the woman came for the cloth I offered it up as an extra freebie and she snapped it up for her brother. Once something is slated to go, I just hate having it hang around.
Things they purged from the drawer to make it easier to access
While making lunch the children were asked to review their tableware drawer. The necessity of this drawer is waning. It was the one where we kept non-breakable dishes for the kids to open and play with when they were toddlers. We do still have the occasional toddler in the house, but I don't think that merits a whole drawer in the prime real estate area. The kids however, are sort of possessive of the space. It is easier for them and their friend to get to this than it is to get to the cabinets, which they have to drag a stool over for. .
We keep a little green plastic box under the kids art table. The kids can throw any unused items in it at any time. This works for them.
Yes, our Clutter Out Box is a Lego Bin!! so appropriate
Why It Works
They don't have to ask where to put it or bring it to the garage, where I keep the outgoing items. They know that if they put it in they never have to put it away again. The item will sit there for a fair bit in case of any regrets either by themselves or by siblings. This has not happened though, rather they have found that once an item is placed in the bin, they know they can live without it, and without even missing it. It give me a chance to see what they decided to fling, in case it was an odd part to something of ours, or a toy set.
I also, sort items from the bin. sometimes they don't want to throw away an art project, but no donation center would do anything but throw it away, and they don't need our trash. Also, this gives me a chance to think on the waste we create, and have our children create. I have been working toward not having the children spend their time, and our money, on projects that are just going to end up in the trash! School is another thing....sooooo much waste.
As I am writing my daughter is sitting next to me working on a project kit she received for her birthday. This is a better one. she is making a headband-so it is something useful. It looks to be of reasonable quality, and I think that it will be a useful item that will make her happy to know she made. Still there is an awful lot of packing to dispose of. Awareness is the first step.
She is saying, "how do you type so fast, it clicks like every five seconds. It is such a happy computer. That computer is enjoying you." Hmmm, interesting, the computer is happy to click? Or is it happy because it has my attention?
Is it not interesting? We need to refuse refuse!! That is we need to Just Say No to worthless items!
If we don't accept things that we don't need, that add no 'worth' and are hence 'worthless', to our lives and our homes we simplify our lives. We save our money and keep our houses cleaner.
I think that the only confusing part of this concept is the term 'worthless.'
How are we going to define worthless. Here in lies the trap! Watch a hoarding show like this one on You tube, A Hoarding Documentary
Just watch the first bit of documentary and you will quickly understand on the far end of the spectrum how everything can seemingly have worth to certain people. The on of the first items discussed by one hoarder is a pair of "perfectly good trousers. the only problem is this one tear..." He and his wife disagree, she would throw them away, as they are useless. He argues they have worth, just sew up the tear and they could be worn again many times.
I agree they could have been worn! If they had been patched and worn that would have been wonderful! keep them out of landfill, reduce resources used to produce and transport new pants, and saves some money! But once they have been replaced, and then squirreled off some place to take up space, they no longer have that value. They are worthless, and worse more resources are being used to house that item!
I know, we hate land-filling....but....perhaps we could all buy cotton and wool and compost worn out clothes. Recall that even 100 years ago natural fiber were made into clothes, and when too worn for wearing quilts would be made from the remnants! Check out the quilt my son recently made from his outgrown shirts that could not be passed on, and some salvaged material from the 70's. We opted for a meaningful keepsake, with many uses instead of investing many hours into another disposable project for his latest book report.
Now you can see by the documentary gentleman's house that he has applied his 'worth' theory to many, many, many items, and they have filled his home. So perhaps if we can teach ourselves more definitive theory of 'worth,'
we could find balance in order to simplify our lives. For me something has worth only if I am going to use it, if it is currently serving a purpose in my life. The most obvious use is utilitarian--something i use frequently in some way. Other purposes could be happiness, but here again the waters get murky. Many will claim the stuff makes them 'happy' of course that is another long post! For me, if seeing an item makes me happy, and that is it, I don't actually use it, then I take a picture and gleefully let go! I know that picture is there for me should i wish to enjoy it, and now get to have my space too!
The Get Rid of It tab at the top is a photo library where i will be posting pictures of things. Certainly not all of them, I know I have already missed boatloads--when you are in the mood to fling, sometimes you don't want to slow down for photos. Other times, it seems like such a herculean effort to clean out and part with items that you want to memorialize your success and share it.
stuff that was on loan that is ready to go back with its owner
and a few Christmas present that were found on top of the Piano...
I will try to post a picture and the thinking behind why it left our home. Sometimes i will add where it is going and/or why. I hate to waste, and hate to send things to the landfill...
"Put it in the 'get rid of its'!" That is how it was phrased by my mother. I still think this, but in practice we have been using a green Lego bin in the kids area where they can simply put anything they no longer want to have to clean up.
Right now I in the middle of a real purge, I will have another post on that in the near future. For the first time the kids have really been involved--and i think that they are enjoying it.
I also, added an About Page, so you can understand what I am presently trying to accomplish with my blog. First and foremost, this has to be something that I want to do, as I am not sure that anyone else (save my poor husband, who almost chided me into writing a blog by joking i should write a blog because what else would i do with my photos of stuff i am getting rid of) will ever read this.
Happy I am to try.
Is this a sustainable practice time will tell...will I run out of things to get rid of, run out of other things to reduce and simplify? At this point I don't think so, but it is nice to believe that it might be possible to 100 percent achieve this goal.
I have been working to simplify my life for some time. At first thought this should be a SIMPLE process but no....
I actually started a reduce 1000 things challenge through the Ravelry site years ago, and it caught on! I was posting so much on Freecycle that people were sending requests, and some people (not sure what their angle was?!) Even wrote to ask if i would ever be done posting.
Then i saw the 100 thing Challenge, and didn't even *want* to attempt it LOL!
Well today I realized that for someone who detests waste, I had an entire cabinet devoted to paper goods! My MIL loves disposable :( I try not to start a war, so i simply accept and stash...not working. I do love to volunteer to bring these items to events that i know that i cannot get them to change their ways, i.e. school parties--but there just are not enough! So I started using it when my MIL came, which did use some, and pleased her greatly. However, it simply fueled the fire, and she brought more :(
What was removed from cabinet in above photo-and the beginning of a blog
Today I decided that I would:
1. politely show my MIL my stash and let her know that we would "let her know when we need more"
2. Move the whole lot into a "module"
Previously I referred to these as boxes, and had been using this technique of limitation prior,but
found Miss Minimalist Blog last night)http://www.missminimalist.com/. I will keep one box and
donate the rest.
3. Get the stuff that I use more often often the top of the fridge and into the cabinet :)
as the paper goods pile on the kitchen floor grew I looked down and laughed at the thought of the 100 Thing Challenge! I think that I have more than 100 Paper goods items alone....well, if you count each separate item I am sure there are thousands, but if you count each package of items maybe i could squeak in under 100 check out the photo. I decided to sit down and start a blog I have been thinking about to log my progress instead of counting...
Now I am off to finish the task. My hope is that this blog will keep me accountable. Perhaps it could even help motivate another by sharing my journey.
Update: see pictures of the finished cabinet in the Bacon Grease Enlightenment Post! Where I ponder the appropriate use of disposable dishes. Also, I really only *reduced* about 10 bowls, where the water-proof finish had delaminated, these were tossed into the trash unused!
