by Cary Farrell July 22, 2019 In the September and October newsletters we realized that keeping everything "just in case" we might need it or keeping things just because they could be used for something only leads to a more cluttered space. More clutter keeps us from being able to find that just in case item and keeps us from having space to turn all those potential items into something. So now that we see the benefit in just keeping the current needs and a realistic amount of potentials, what do we do with the rest of the stuff we decided we don’t really need or intend to do something with? Some people are passionate about recycling and don’t want to throw items away. They just pile them up somewhere in the house because they don’t want to add to the landfill. Or they don’t know how or where to recycle the items and they never make it a priority to get the recycling out. Delaying donating or throwing away items keeps them out of the landfill temporarily. However, you ultimately create a landfill in your own home, giving prime real estate to items you don’t need. Some people are passionate about recycling because they lived with family who survived the Great Depression and they were taught to feel guilty for not reusing everything. These people write notes on napkins or old envelopes because of this training. They keep every rubber band, twist tie, ribbon, plastic container, cardboard box, etc. None of that is wrong in and of itself, but the problem is that we don’t live in the Great Depression Era and we get more envelopes, plastic containers and boxes in a year than we can use in a lifetime and they keep coming! It is also very difficult to organize napkin and envelope notes and these people struggle to find the envelope or napkin they wrote something on. A spiral bound notebook is a much better way of keeping up with notes. If you have a smart phone you can store your list on it, saving paper and increasing the likelihood that you will always have your list with you when you need it. Some people are passionate about saving our environment so they feel guilty about throwing things out. Their hope is to reuse all those items until they are unusable and thrown away. However, the same problems hold true for this group of people because the rate at which these reusable items come into the home far exceeds the ability to reuse them up quickly. Again, this creates a huge pile of reusable items. So what are our options? 1. We can turn our homes into landfills which creates a whole host of negative issues: lack of space, increase in critter homes, the deterioration of our vehicle which is parked outside while our trash is protected inside, the inability to clean our homes, and the lack of desire to have company over because our trash is showing! 2. We can decide that we do like living like our grandparents from the Great Depression and refuse to buy non consumables and just reuse what we have. The only problem with this is that you have to be serious about not shopping no matter how good a deal is because you already have what you need at home. 3. We can make a commitment to buy locally to reduce packaging and to buy items that are packaged in more recycle-friendly containers. 4. We can totally commit to our recycling efforts: -Do a little homework and find your nearest recycle center to find out what they can take. -Commit to a set time each week or month to take a load to the recycle center nearest you to keep your home pile small. If you wait too long then you are going to feel more overwhelmed and instead of taking an hour or two, you might take a whole day. -If you find yourself with an item you don’t know how to recycle, search the internet and find out the answer. Don’t just leave it in your cabinet or drawer because you don’t know what do with it! With Google at our fingertips we really don’t have the ability to say we don’t know something! Some of my favorite things to recycle are useable items that I know can be of benefit to other people right now. Whether it is household items or clothes I no longer need, old prescription glasses the local eye doctor can send for use in poor countries, or old cell phones that can be dropped at the local Verizon store as donations to the military or domestic violence shelters, I enjoy sharing with others out of my abundance while my items are still useable. Donating clothes that are 30 to 40 years old are not received nearly as well as clothes less than 5 years old. It is always sad to me when I have to throw away items at a client's home that were kept until they were no longer useable to anyone else. Make a family decision about which options fit your family and start implementing your new recycling habits today! And as we enter the Thanksgiving season, consider being thankful for all the bounty you have and make a conscious effort to share with others out of your abundance.