Towels with grease stains; jam jars in amusing shapes; books started but never finished. There’s stuff hanging around our closets, basements, and bookshelves that is of questionable use and doesn’t, as Marie Kondo’s KonMari method famously espouses, “spark joy.” And yet there the clutter sits, ready for a new home–be it a gift to our kids, a donation to a charity or a toss into a trash bag.
My personal path through this involuntary collection of stuff came when I moved from a suburban house to a city apartment. I didn’t have time to thank discarded items for their service. My mantra was simpler: A bag a day, even if the bag on some days was lunch size. I recently recommended a variation of my mantra to a friend who had to move herself and her huge book collection across the country. She was almost paralyzed by the enormity of her task but says by cutting the task down to one box a day she got a handle on it. Which is, I guess, the secret to “bag a day.” It cuts the task down into do-able bites.
There are other tips for downsizing, rightsizing or decluttering–which is the ultimate gift to our kids who won’t have to deal with overstuffed cupboards and closets when we’re unable to. Here are some ideas from a Washington Post article with a promising title, “How to let go of things you don’t use and declutter your life.” The article has a lot to say about the psychology behind holding onto stuff that’s no longer useful. But I’ll cut through that clutter and just list some of the tips for tackling the job.
The One In/One Out Rule: If you’re faced with, say, a box of empty jam jars, prune down the number by choosing one to save, one to recycle till the number of jars is more manageable.
Donation Station. It can be a box, a bag or any kind of container that can hold items that can be reused–bring joy–to someone else. Books in good condition can go from donation station to a public library (many accept donations and resell the books for cash) or to a Little Free Library where neighborhood readers share books. Keeping a donation station year-round can help keep clutter from accruing.
Textile Recycle. Not all no-longer-worn clothes are appropriate for resale or for donation to a used clothes shop. Several stores accept stained or ripped clothing for their textile recycle programs. Eileen Fisher, Madewell and H&M are three outlets that have such programs and there are more online.. such as Blue Jeans Go Green or TerraCycle.”
Throw It Away. Not everything can be reused, recycled or regifted. If a favorite glass pitcher has a broken handle, it’s okay to put it in a trash bag. No judgment. No guilt. And a less cluttered closet.
Painting: Robert Rauschenberg, “Fulcrum”
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