Cleaning House
(So many faux flowers!)
This December will mark ten years in our current home, and as I’ve been preparing the boys for school, I’ve begun to realize how much stuff we’ve accumulated in that time. I’m a tidy person and haven’t read a certain book on the subject that’s really popular right now. But from time to time, I like to do a clean sweep of things and really weed out unnecessary objects from our house.
As an ethical consumer, I’m aware that what I choose to remove from our home doesn’t magically disappear, so I’m trying to think of creative ways to pass things along to others. My goal is to share my findings with you as I slowly but surely cull some of the items that have piled up after a decade of living in the same place. These things are mostly decorative and serve no real purpose, so I’m not emotionally attached and am happy to pass them along to other people who might enjoy owning them.
Alongside my series, my fellow members of the Ethical Writers Coalition will be participating in a Second Hand Challenge in September. I will give you more information soon, but the idea goes hand-in-hand with my quest to find alternatives to throwing things away. I hope you might find this series insightful, and feel free to offer your own suggestions, too.
I’m really interested to see how you handle this! We have so much stuff — too much stuff — and I hate that it ends up in the garbage or the Salvation Army. We do a monthly curbside swap here around town, where people can put out unwanted items others can take as a free-for-all, and that has helped get rid of some things!
That’s really great about the curbside swap! I used our local neighborhood site to post some free things online, and they were picked up last night and this morning.
Can’t wait to see what you learn and how this shakes out, Catherine! Good luck to you!
Thanks so much, Elizabeth!
[…] I’m not in the market for clothes or any major purchases this month, I’m focusing on creative ways to pass along the things I no longer need. My goal is to avoid donating items to donation centers […]