If like me, you love a good clear out, you should enjoy today's post. I have been working on decluttering my life across three locations, Hyderabad, Meath, and Dublin.
Most people have three methods of decluttering: The Bin, The Charity Shop, and Recycling. Now I get it, it's easy to put clean plastics and cardboard and other recyclables into your green bin, and it's not a huge thing to bring your glass bottles and jars to the Recycling Banks, but what about the things you can't readily recycle or donate?
Today I am going to bring you my tips for decluttering your life, including the awkward things, in the categories of Donate, Recycle, Trash, and Misc.
Donate:
Good quality clothes, such as that dress you bought last year that you swore would be "the dress" but you only wore three times. My modus operandi for donating is, "Would I want to wear this?", "Would I buy this?" and if you say yes, and it's not in absolute rags, it's good to bring to your local charity shop.
Now, the thing about this is, if you have a lot of stuff to donate, you may need to spread it around different charity shops. I like to give to my local Saint Vincent de Paul shops, which gives me the opportunity to donate in more than one area. It's also not cool to just dump all your shameful impulse buys in one place and make someone else do the hard work, so think about your plan.
You can also always donate at local bring banks if they have clothing donation bins, and if you live in an urban area, you might even be able to donate to local shelters and so forth. Have a look online for the best resources for you. Seriously. It'll take ten minutes and it will be a great use of your time.
Alternatively, donating can take the form of offering your friends first refusal on items from your wardrobe, before you take the remainder to the charity shop or donation center.
Recycle:
Easy enough, if you have access to a car. What I like to do is to take a day to do the sorting, and get all of the recycling in one place. Then in the morning of the next day, or on a day when you can, load up your car and head for the local recycling center. They will have designated areas for cardboard, tins, electronics, and so on. One thing I love the recycling center for is the clothing recycling facilities. Any clothing that you have that is holey, or tatty, or whatever else can be sent to recycling for textiles.
The beauty of this method is that you can make a huge dent in a small amount of time, and you can really make a change. Recycling center entry fees are extremely affordable, and if it costs you a couple of quid to get in, it's worth it!!
Equally, you can always take a couple of things that are not fit for donation, but in decent condition to make into rags for dusting and cleaning, saving you the cost of paper towels or fancy-schmancy microfibre cloths!
Trash:
Of course, there are things you may have to bin, and the likelihood is that you will have to toss out, and that's fair enough. The main thing to bear in mind here is to minimize the amount you need to toss in the bin.
Misc:
There are things that you shouldn't bin, that you can't easily recycle and that you should not donate. Things like old pillows, teddies, and duvets/blankets. You can donate these to local dog shelters. Honestly, they will be delighted to get them and use them, and you will feel so good that the kitties and the puppies that are sleeping on them are warm and comfy.
Food scraps can be composted for the most part, if you have space or utilities to do so. If you don't, please do not fret, you are already doing the best you can.
Gift bags are good to keep and reuse, to re-wrap a gift for someone you love. Save your dolla-dolla for use on other things!
If you have doubles of things you don't want, then pass them along to people you think might enjoy them. For example, I have a second set of cutlery, so I gave the extra set to Dex for work, and now he has a low-impact lunch kit!
I hope these were useful to you!
Amy
x
Twitter // Facebook
Most people have three methods of decluttering: The Bin, The Charity Shop, and Recycling. Now I get it, it's easy to put clean plastics and cardboard and other recyclables into your green bin, and it's not a huge thing to bring your glass bottles and jars to the Recycling Banks, but what about the things you can't readily recycle or donate?
Today I am going to bring you my tips for decluttering your life, including the awkward things, in the categories of Donate, Recycle, Trash, and Misc.
Donate:
Good quality clothes, such as that dress you bought last year that you swore would be "the dress" but you only wore three times. My modus operandi for donating is, "Would I want to wear this?", "Would I buy this?" and if you say yes, and it's not in absolute rags, it's good to bring to your local charity shop.
Now, the thing about this is, if you have a lot of stuff to donate, you may need to spread it around different charity shops. I like to give to my local Saint Vincent de Paul shops, which gives me the opportunity to donate in more than one area. It's also not cool to just dump all your shameful impulse buys in one place and make someone else do the hard work, so think about your plan.
You can also always donate at local bring banks if they have clothing donation bins, and if you live in an urban area, you might even be able to donate to local shelters and so forth. Have a look online for the best resources for you. Seriously. It'll take ten minutes and it will be a great use of your time.
Alternatively, donating can take the form of offering your friends first refusal on items from your wardrobe, before you take the remainder to the charity shop or donation center.
Recycle:
Easy enough, if you have access to a car. What I like to do is to take a day to do the sorting, and get all of the recycling in one place. Then in the morning of the next day, or on a day when you can, load up your car and head for the local recycling center. They will have designated areas for cardboard, tins, electronics, and so on. One thing I love the recycling center for is the clothing recycling facilities. Any clothing that you have that is holey, or tatty, or whatever else can be sent to recycling for textiles.
The beauty of this method is that you can make a huge dent in a small amount of time, and you can really make a change. Recycling center entry fees are extremely affordable, and if it costs you a couple of quid to get in, it's worth it!!
Equally, you can always take a couple of things that are not fit for donation, but in decent condition to make into rags for dusting and cleaning, saving you the cost of paper towels or fancy-schmancy microfibre cloths!
Trash:
Of course, there are things you may have to bin, and the likelihood is that you will have to toss out, and that's fair enough. The main thing to bear in mind here is to minimize the amount you need to toss in the bin.
Misc:
There are things that you shouldn't bin, that you can't easily recycle and that you should not donate. Things like old pillows, teddies, and duvets/blankets. You can donate these to local dog shelters. Honestly, they will be delighted to get them and use them, and you will feel so good that the kitties and the puppies that are sleeping on them are warm and comfy.
Food scraps can be composted for the most part, if you have space or utilities to do so. If you don't, please do not fret, you are already doing the best you can.
Gift bags are good to keep and reuse, to re-wrap a gift for someone you love. Save your dolla-dolla for use on other things!
If you have doubles of things you don't want, then pass them along to people you think might enjoy them. For example, I have a second set of cutlery, so I gave the extra set to Dex for work, and now he has a low-impact lunch kit!
I hope these were useful to you!
Amy
x
Twitter // Facebook
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Thank you for commenting, I really appreciate it, and will always try to reply to you! You can always tweet me for the banter, too @redlips_redhair...
Amy,
xx