The Less You Have, the Less You Have to Organize.

This is the lesson I am learning in my quest to reduce the amount of clutter – on my desk, on the mantle, in my closet, in laundry room cabinets – the less extra stuff I have the less organizing I have to do.  This is great news for disorganized people like myself.  I’ve been going through my house room by room, and though I am not done I have learned a few things along the way.

Thrift Store As Rental Center

Cleaning out the hard-to-reach cabinet above the sink I found a beautiful glass pitcher we used for water at our wedding reception.  Since then we haven’t used it once, though I held onto it to serve mimosas at a brunch.  Well, we haven’t had that brunch, and this pitcher isn’t worth the real estate of my little cabinet space.  So I decided that if we do host a brunch that I really want t pitcher for, I will scout out some thrift stores and will likely find something that will do. Afterward, I donate it back and chalk up my $3 as a rental fee. There is no reason to hold on to stuff that I simply don’t use regularly, and when I buy used I’m keeping those items circulating in the community for others to make use of also.  I’m no longer attached to it.  The same goes for a fondue kit, a punch bowl, and any other rarely used items that I don’t need to own.  Now when I need something like that I’ll just rent it from a thrift store!

Get it Online

This mantra helped me give away cookbooks, recycle phone books, and clear out a bunch of paper clutter.  From requesting auto pay reminders in email instead of letter to opening up an Evernote account to keep track of those post-it notes, lists, websites, flyers, etc., I can not only reduce the paper clutter that I have, but now I am building a way to harness that information online so I don’t get the paper in the first place.

Where Does It All Go?

In clearing out my cabinets one by one I quickly amassed bags of stuff to donate which I brought to nearby thrift stores anytime I was out running an errand so as not to overwhelm my house with bags.  In addition to donating items to thrift stores and recycling the obvious things like paper,  I set up a few other options for my stuff:

• Consignment:  Before heading to a clothing swap I brought a couple of bags of better condition items to be consigned at a Bend resale shop. What they didn’t take went to the swap, and what wasn’t claimed there then went to a thrift store.  Outdoor gear and clothing were also set aside to bring to The GearFix to be consigned.  These little things add up and provide a nice surprise credit towards future purchases at these local stores.

 

• Repair: I set aside items that I would use if not for some aspect that needs repair.  Instead of having to throw out non-functioning Chaco sandals that I couldn’t repair I found out that they will replace webbing in a sandal for $20.  While watching movies I plowed through the rest of my bag sewing on buttons or darning small holes. Keep an eye on our calendar to see if a Repair Cafe is coming up soon for items you can’t repair yourself!

 

• Give to Specific People: My friend turns sweaters into mittens and I knew I had the perfect one for her so I set it aside.  A neighbor was wearing a different colored dress of one I want to give away – now I’ll just give it to her.  As I am often the recipient of this kind of gifting it’s nice to think of others as recipients for things I no longer need or use.

 

• Recycle: I had a pair of old Patagonia capilene long underwear that were totally done and in no condition for reuse. So I donated them back to Patagonia through their Worn Wear program. Patagonia in Downtown Bend has a dropbox for collection!

These sites and items have now been added to the “Find A Recycler or Reuser” database on this website.

 

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash