Clutter is the enemy of living an eco-friendly life. Too much stuff just makes it difficult to live sustainably. You need to worry not just about the resources that went into producing our belongings, but also about how much space they take up and what happens when you’re done with them. In this blog post, we will look at seven ways to declutter your home.
Declutter One Area at A Time
Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything there is to do. Take it one step at a time, and it’ll make it more manageable.
Did you know that it’s more time-efficient to declutter your garage or yard than to look for a few specific items in a messy space? When you start with a clean slate, you’re able to find missing items much easier. To start, you can sort these items into stuff you’ll recycle or upcycle and things that you need to store for now. Anything else can go in a skip.
Donate Good Quality Items
The phrase ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ is very true. An item may have lost its usefulness to one person but that doesn’t mean it can’t be reused or recycled by someone else. When you’re decluttering your place, it’s best to try to be as sustainable as possible so that you don’t create a lot of waste.
Lots of things can be donated to charity, like clothes, tools or cookware. Building materials might also be repurposed. Bricks, sand, rocks and other materials may help someone else.
Get rid of items you don’t need by donating them to homeless shelters, women’s and children’s centres, etc. not only will you declutter your surroundings but you’ll also be helping other people in your community.
Make Your Own Bath and Beauty Products
A lot of unrecyclable waste is created by individual wrapping and packing that’s there for a short time. Tiny bottles of shampoo, for example, might result in a lot of trash sitting in your cabinets until they are thrown away.
However, many of these products could be made at home. There are many DIY instructions online, they may even be healthier than store-bought alternatives. Natural components could be utilised, which are better for the environment.
One of the best ways to avoid adding clutter to your home is by using glass and plastic bottles. They can be reused and recycled, which makes them perfect for any homemade bathroom products.
Upcycle Items for Different Purposes
Instead of throwing them away, you may turn old buckets, wheelbarrows, shovels and other similar tools in your garden into DIY items. You can create a display with fresh flowers or herbs or use them in any other way you want – like creating an interesting water feature.
Reusing materials rather than throwing anything away is called upcycling, and it’s a sustainable option that helps reduce the amount of rubbish generated.
Recycled handmade gifts are not only aesthetically pleasing, but they’re also eco-friendly! You can make oven mitts and tea towels from old scraps of fabric. If you make these things or sell them at a market, you’re earning money and helping the environment at the same time.
Reuse Instead of Replacing
Now that shops are offering lower-priced items, it can be cheaper to buy something new than go the restoration route. However, be sure to take some time and think about whether you want another item or not before going on another shopping spree. Is there some way this product could be fixed, instead of buying a new one? Not only would you save money, but Mother Nature would also thank you for not adding to her burden.
There might be an easier way to use whatever you’re trying to throw out. Take for example, loose hems or handles on doors. It’s a pretty easy fix and even if you don’t have any experience, it can still be done with some basic troubleshooting. Plus, the idea of upcycling could be motivating enough for you to take on additional tasks—and help save the environment while you’re at it in the process.
Sell or Trade Items Instead of Discarding
You may sell unused goods on the internet or at a garage sale, so they can be reused again.
Instead of a straight purchase, some people are choosing to trade items. Resources can be conserved without having to spend money and resources.
Use Digital Solutions
There are a lot of different items that people are still storing on paper – photos, photographs, and old records. It’s good to turn these items into digital records so they can be stored/retrieved later. The original paper copies can then be recycled.
Scanning your photos to a digital format allows you to store them where they’re needed. Digital photo frames make it easy to display multiple pictures at once without taking up too much space. The same is true for records – it can be easier to stream an album rather than buy and store the physical album at home.
Although some people prefer reading physical books, it’s much more space-efficient to trade in or sell your old books. At second-hand bookstores or online, you can get new reads while also decluttering your house, it’s a win, win.