While motivations vary, many people are trying to reduce their carbon footprint and live more sustainably. We absolutely support that! And guess what? Getting organized can give you a great start to reaching your sustainable, green, low-waste, or zero-waste goals.
Simple Steps Towards Organized and Sustainable Living:
Rehome Items You No Longer Want or Need Sustainable living is about giving back more than you take. So, it’s important to make sure that the things you don’t need are provided the best next life. Many of our clients call us simply because they have a lot of usable items to edit or recycle, but they don't know how to get them into the hands of people or organizations that can use them. A professional organizer can help with dropping off donations, coordinating a charity pick-up, or figuring out what your nearest recycling center accepts. They typically have local partners and contacts and can help you with the logistics, so your usable items do not end up in the landfill. Importantly, professional organizers can provide a dose of reality when clients want to believe all their stuff is "good stuff." We've worked with donation centers and charities enough to know what can and cannot be reused. Taking a realistic approach to donating helps your project flow more smoothly and helps the receiving organizations get items they can actually use.
Repurpose Items in Your Home Interestingly, I often come across a large collection of perfectly usable (but unused) organizing products when organizing a client’s home. Of course, those can be put to good use, but there may be other items in your home that you never thought about using for organizing. You might have things like baskets, boxes, file folders, accessories, and even small furniture pieces that can be repurposed. Searching your home for items you can repurpose before going out to buy new ones is a good habit to get into.
Reduce Consumption You know you have more tape somewhere. You are certain you ordered more recently, but you just can't put your hands on it. So, what do you do? You go out and buy more! Wouldn’t it be great if you could find the items you need when you need them and reduce those instances of "I'll just buy another one"? Reducing the consumption of new products is important in the sustainability effort because producing new items requires raw materials and production processes. If you can locate that tape, it's already been made, and you aren't increasing the demand for more to be produced. One roll of tape may seem like a small thing, but over time, there could be a mountain of tape and every other unnecessary item you purchased.
Reduce Waste By reducing consumption, you can also reduce the production of waste. Think about how you stock your kitchen and pantry. Do you shop without a plan and just grab things from the grocery store shelves? If so, you may not end up using everything during its edible lifespan. Produce may spoil, and expiration dates may pass without you realizing. Then, all that good food is thrown in the trash and wasted. A meal plan can help! If you take a list of the items you need for the week to the store with you, you have a much better chance of consuming them rather than wasting them. Does this mean you'll never throw out a moldy strawberry again? Probably not. No one is perfect, but you can significantly reduce your food waste by creating a weekly meal plan and shopping, cooking, and eating with intention. If you want more details on creating and using a meal plan, Contact Us! We can help you create a custom-organized meal plan through our Virtual Organizing services.
Reduce Unnecessary Spending (and Frustration) Getting organized can save you money! Have you ever misplaced something really valuable and then had to replace it? Maybe it was a smartphone or another piece of expensive technology. What about money? Have you ever misplaced some cash and then couldn't find it? When everything in your home has a “home,” you are much less likely to lose track of your precious possessions, saving you money as well as frustration. And, remember, even when things don’t cost a lot, like your favorite earrings or a special letter, losing them comes at a price.
Attend to Higher-Level Goals! Something amazing happens when you get organized. Not only is your house more orderly and things easier to find, but you can do more cool stuff. Because you’re not wasting time and energy searching for your keys, catching up on your mail, and looking for a scrap of paper with a phone number you need, you can focus on more interesting things…and more ways to give back. It may sound a little far-fetched but, trust me, your aspirations and achievements can grow higher when clutter is in check. Maybe you’ll have time to tend to a community garden plot, research solar panels for your home, or walk to your lunch appointment instead of driving. Most importantly, you’ll have the mental space to focus better, dream bigger, and reach for higher goals.
Whatever your vision is for a sustainable "green" lifestyle, an organized life will support you! And the Element of Fun Organizing team is with you all the way!