DrDeClutterBlog.com

Organizing means repairing sometimes.

You may not have to “sweat the small stuff” but you do have to repair it if you want to keep it.

My mom has a couple of coffee mugs on top of her microwave that hold refrigerator magnets and small figurines that need hot-gluing whenever I’m home. She’s got the idea!

Missing button. Broken knick-knack. Unglued frame corner. The little repair needs can mount up. But when they are scattered all over the house they just create more clutter and no repairs completed.

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE and a REPAIR BOX will help so many other little annoyances from repeatedly bothering you!

Create and keep a “repair box.” It can be a cardboard box or plastic container, just something clean and sturdy. Keep it in a closet or place easy enough to put other items in that you find in need of some repair and easy to get to when you’re ready to repair.

Take it out once a month or so allotting an hour or so to go through as many items in the box as you can and get them completed, repaired and returned to their rightful place.

Keep a basic sewing kit and supplies with this box or in your closet/bedroom area where you get dressed. So, whether you pop a button or find a loose seam while getting dressed, you can take care of it immediately, as opposed to the long vacation it would otherwise take on your mending or “I don’t know where to put it,” pile.

Make sure everyone in your house knows about this handy little box so that when they have items that need repairs they can put them in the box too.

P.S. However, don’t keep using broken, un-repairable items. Enjoy your belongings as long as you can, but when they are worn out, broken, chipped, etc. it’s okay to let them go even though, I know, “They’re still good enough.” They’re really not! Let. Them. Go.

You will be amazed at how refreshed you will feel when you recycle or trash items that are truly beyond repair and find out that you really don’t need them.

If you really need that item again, buy new and replace, or get out replacements from the attic or china cupboard that have gone unused for 28 years to date!! USE YOUR STUFF UP!

More than 660,000 tons of phone books end up in the trash every year. This is not good. We don’t need more in the landfills that are bursting at their seems.

What to do:

1) RECYCLE THEM:  Not all recycling systems will accept them, but if they do, both in your curbside single-stream recycling cart and at the dropoff recycle center, that’s where they should go. (If your recycle system won’t take them, see option 2 below.)

According to California’s Green Valley Recycling, by recycling just 500 books, we could save between 17 and 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 kilowatt hours of energy. Wow! Let’s do our part today!

Or, better yet…

2) STOP DELIVERY: Don’t get them at all.

Why do we still get phone books? One of the problems is that we’re in that wobble in some parts of the world about things like this. We’re still advertising in phone books, there are still “the yellow pages”, but with technology and “progress” more and more people are finding what they need online.

So, assess how much you really use your phone book and decide to get off the list if you can and don’t have it show up on your door step in the first place. Or, if there’s just one that you want, but don’t need a stack of them, get off those you don’t care for as much or need and keep getting the one you like.

Until each online phone book site has it’s own opt-in and out page, here are numbers to call to ask to be taken off their lists.

    DEX: 877-243-8339

    Yellow Book: 800-929-3556 (you need to call every 2 years to stay off this one)

    Verizon: 888-266-5765 

    Names and Numbers: 800-592-7625 

Thank you, from Planet Earth!

Do you have other people’s stuff and things in your house, garage or storage unit? Sometimes that clutter waaaaaaay at the back of our closet – isn’t even ours!

I’ve decluttered several homes where children have brought in neighbor kids sports equipment, clothes, games, toys… and they get lost in the heaps in their bedrooms or bottoms of closets. Or, maybe it’s adult stuff, like roasters, pictures, cameras, BBQ equipment from last 4th of July’s party… time to return it!

Get a box and gather up anything you have borrowed and plan a time to return it. Library books, CD’s, DVD’s, videos, binoculars, the lawnmower; you’ve either forgotten about it, OR you keep thinking about it and it’s taking up prime real estate in your head! Feel embarrassed to take it back “after all this time?” Do it anyway! It’ll feel great to let it go, especially when you’re “recycling” it back to whence it came!

Is this great or what? Everybody wins. They get their stuff back, and you get all that space back in your mind – your closets and garage, basement and attic. YEA!

Please, hold onto plastic bags. Pick them up when you see them. Recycle appropriately. Stop using asap. Thank you!

Now for our main attraction… The Majestic Plastic Bag – A Mockumentary (thank you YouTube!)

It’s always something!

I use resusable totes all the time. I LOVE TOTE BAGS! My mom says, “You have too many tote bags!” I say, “Can you ever have too many tote bags?!”

Now, the problem with tote bags is that they get dirty. Reusable grocery bags are great for the environment, but reusing them over and over, throwing them in a lump in the hot car and using them for many purposes is going to gather e coli and all kinds of bacteria. That’s not including just what you and others add to the bags when you touch them and put them on counters at the store, at home, on the floor, in the car, on a bus, at the bus stop . . . you get the picture.

Bags used for food can also gather Salmonella and Listeria creating the potential to make you sick. Or, if they don’t make you sick immediately, these little creatures can cause disease in people with weakened immune systems and weaken your immune system.

However… food-safety expert Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers Union says, “A person eating an average bag of salad greens gets more exposure to these bacteria than if they had licked the insides of the dirtiest bag. These bacteria can be found lots of places, so no need to go overboard.”

But Hansen notes that there are some reminders to good health. “It’s easy to spread bacteria from meat, fish, or poultry to other foods – in your kitchen or in your grocery bags. So we do think it’s wise to carry those items in disposable bags. Reusable bags are fine for most everything else, but it’s a good idea to wash them occasionally.”

So, do this: 

1. Wash bags regularly in the wash machine or with soap by hand (no bleach necessary) reducing bacteria by 99.9 percent. 

2. When bagging your goodies, make sure to separate raw foods from other food products.

3. Make sure to use plastic of some sort to bag raw meat to guard against leaking. Have a few plastic bags that are washed well after each use and reuse them in your bag collection.

4. If your bags are accumulating, go through them and decide which ones you really use, keep them in good repair and clean, store or let go of the others.

Happy reusable grocery bag bagging!

Check out my post from last fall on cleaning your purse for your health too!
 

If you can make it, don’t miss this great event coming soon in September by Jill Vegas!

She says, “Have you ever wished you could simply close your eyes, then open them again to find a glamorous room decorated in your favorite style? Or go on vacation for a week and return to a fabulous house that is revived and sparkling?

Well, join the club! As wonderful as it would be to have a personal, decorating fairy godmother, most of us know that it takes hard work to accomplish changes like these. The question is, how hard? How long must it take? My book, Speed Decorating, has inspired many make-overs.

If you’re ready to tackle a project this fall, sign up for this hands-on Speed Decorating course!”

This is an intense course that will change the way you look at your home, space and future. Visit http://www.jillvegas.com/events.htm to find out how you can attend!

Longmont United Hospital, our local hospital, is having its annual “pharmaceutical take-back day” tomorrow from 8-2 pm just inside the main entrance, and it’s free.

Don’t flush your medications as they go into your water systems and we ALL get to share in the cocktail of pharma for years to come. YIKES! Think estrogen . . . seen any man-boobs lately? I rest my case!! Read more below.

Check with your local hospitals and see if they can take your unused and unwanted medications to dispose of properly.

TIPS ABOUT MEDICATION DISPOSAL

1. DO NOT Flush Them Down the Toilet or Pour Down the Sink

Why? Experts say it may have potential harmful effects on the environment and to us. Disposal via the toilet takes your drugs into the local sewage system. Modern water treatment plants are not fully designed to deal with medication disposal. The long-term health risks posed by consumption of even minute quantities of these medications in drinking water and the full extent of environmental damage remains unknown. 

Plus, these drugs can leach into the local water table, eventually coming out somewhere, like a nearby lake or stream, or even worse out onto your own property, where pets, livestock or wildlife could be at risk.

2. Don’t Throw Them Into the Trash

Safety experts say “no.” First, kids and pets can find them. Then, your trash will eventually make it to a local landfill, where your medications could still have the potential to leach out (see water above).

DO THIS: Many municipal or local trash services now have local household waste facilities where you can safely drop off your medications for incineration. Call your local trash service for options in your area.

3. Return Them to Your Pharmacy

Pharmacies are not required to take back your unused medications, but some will.

DO THIS: Check with your local pharmacies and drugstore chains as some do sponsor regular “clean out your medicine cabinet” drives where customers can return old, expired or unused medications, supplements and other over-the-counter products. Call your local drugstore or pharmacy for options in your area.

4. Return Them to Your Doctor

Not all physicians or doctor offices will take them. Some may not be fully prepared to safely handle the process.

DO THIS: Call ahead to see if your doctor can offer safer medication disposal methods. Plus, as in the beginning article above, check with your local hospital to find out if they have a “take back” day.

 5. Sell them.

Nooooooo! I’m just kidding! But, I know that crossed your mind, right?!

There are plenty of people who have 18+ gallon tubs of bottles filled with medications that “were just not the right one” before the doctor changed the script one more time. It’s very frustrating, not to mention costly, however clean out your tubs and dispose of properly. Let – it – go! See #’s 1-4 above.

An article in my local paper today says that The OUR Center’s hospitality center, kitchen and pantry needs items. I’m sure your local shelters and food banks need supplies and help too!

Declutter your pantry, closets, drawers, garage shelves, etc. and you may find plenty of overstock to share, like: coffee mugs, napkins, toilet tissue, plastic baggies, dry erase and permanent markers, stainless steel spoons and forks, packing tape, paper towels, towels and trash bags.

Their day shelter needs rain ponchos, shaving cream and razors, toothpaste and toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products and deodorant.

The center’s clothing bank needs gloves, plastic and vinyl tarps, socks, sleeping bags and large trash bags too.

The food banks can use food, but also your physical help to sort and stack items.

Dollar type and buy-bulk stores are great places to get a big bang for your buck to take new to these needy places as well.

In other words, jump in and help out as you can each month. Others will be very grateful.

Soon enough you’ll be putting away those swim suits and shorts and digging out the sweaters and socks. The beginning of the school year is a good time to do this sorting for children.

If your children have outgrown their summer clothes, won’t wear them again next year or just want to clear some space, it’s time to sort, store and swap!

SEASONAL SORT, STORE AND SWAP

At the beginning or end of each season is a good time to sort through what hasn’t seen the light of day and move it out so others can enjoy it.

1. SWAP: Some clothes may be just right sizes for friends, family or other school kids who can use them this year. Put into a SWAP box. Call these families and tell them to do the same if you all have kids the same sizes and growing into sizes you need. Plan a day at one of your homes and bring all the clothes – SWAP! Have a fun day adding to your child’s wardrobe, trading clothes for free.

2. DONATE: The clothes that are not swapable or no one has that size child - put into a DONATE box. I let the thrift store employees decide whether they are “good enough” or not to keep moving along.

Read more about SHWAPPING for adults items too!