If you didn’t get a chance to unload unnecessary items at the start of the year because you didn’t make a solid new year’s resolution or you were too busy celebrating, then Springtime is your next chance. As people get ready for the brighter part of the year, they are tempted to clear the clutter and lighten their closet. However, together with clothing and shoes, you will come across a whole lot of other things that you had probably forgotten you had laying around.
As people have been spending more time at home this past year, they have been more inclined to binge shop online. Since there was nothing better to do and also because people were constantly worried about things going out of stock, you aren’t alone if you find that you have unused extra items stacked away in the cupboard.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that even though the environment has benefited from the recent drastic decrease in human activity, if we continue things the old-fashioned way, it won’t take much to bring us back to that level of pollution and environmental contamination.
Here are a few tips to help you declutter in an environmentally friendly way.
1. Share
As you start going through the closet and the storage area in your home, you will find a lot of things that are unnecessary to you but they are still in perfectly good, usable condition. Whether that is a pair of shoes, an old sweatshirt, or even some furniture, if you don’t need it, someone else does. Even several foods can have incredibly long lifespans, so if you haven’t used it and don’t plan to, give it to someone else who could have it for dinner. Or if you want, you could store the food for yourself later. Things like peanut butter, tinned food, and beef jerky can be good for more than 2 years. Whatever it is that you have lying around, consider sharing it with the people around you or you could always donate to the countless charities that provide for those less privileged.
2. Safe Disposal
If you are extensively cleaning your garage or you are sorting out pure rubbish material, then you need to make sure you dispose of it safely. Certain things like old engine oil, rusted metal, and bags of garden waste can be a serious environmental concern. You might be better off hiring a skip bin rather than throwing it in the bin since these things can’t be processed by regular garbage disposal services either. They require specialized facilities and need to be processed before they can be discarded. If you have anything that you aren’t sure how to dispose of, consider getting a bin that you can collect all this waste material in and have an expert handle it.
3. Compost Bins
Chances are you are generating biodegradable waste daily. Whether you are a single person or a family of ten, the biodegradable waste you are creating is actually quite a useful material. If you have a garden outside, you could make good use of this waste through a compost bin that will create organic compost for your plants. Food scraps are packed with a ton of nutrients. Plants can benefit from all this energy and you won’t have to worry about buying compost again. A compost bin will generate compost as long as you keep feeding it raw material. You can replace your green rubbish bin with a compost bin and you will have an endless supply. Not to mention that the compost you create from your food waste at home is going to be far superior to any packaged product you buy from the market. It’s a one-time investment with a lifetime of value.
Even with these basic waste management tips, one thing that is guaranteed is that in a few months or even weeks you will have another pile of stuff that you need to get rid of. Rather than going through this annual cleaning process and having to live with all these extra items year-round, consider creating waste management protocols for your home. Keep an inventory of what you have and how much you actually need and get rid of excess supplies as soon as they build up. Not only is it a hassle to manage so much stuff in your home, but it can also even be a health hazard with certain kinds of waste. Plus, getting things to people who need them in time is a lot better than having them lying around the house.
