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Decluttering your home is one of the most rewarding things you can do. The benefits of a clutter-free environment include less stress, less debt, and more time to spend with family and friends.

I did an initial big declutter a few years ago now and haven’t looked back. Every season I fine tune things, but for the most part I’ve remained clutter free.

But, early on in my minimalist journey, I began to realize that I wasn’t cut out for the ‘fill up a skip’ approach.

I abhor the damage humanity is doing to our planet, and I want to do my bit to reduce my footprint on the environment.

So I have chosen to adopt a more mindful approach to decluttering our home.

Trash or treasure?

One thing that helps to stick with this more mindful approach, is to consider what I like to call the unlived lives of items. Because the old adage really is true. My trash could be someone else’s treasure.

Like the motorbike helmet that’s been sitting in our garage for over 7 years. Maybe its story wasn’t supposed to end there? Maybe it was meant to spend its remaining days saving the life of a teenage boy who took more risks than he should on his new motorbike.

Then there’s the old laptop, sitting in the spare wardrobe. The hinge is broken and its old and slow. But perhaps it could become a donor! Parts contributing to other electronics that would have a similar fate, but when combined are saved from landfill and become useful again.

The winter coat, from our overseas trip a decade ago, might not be fashionable now but is still in perfect condition. It would proudly keep the cold from a new owner for years to come.

Taking time to consider who might benefit from our unwanted things can be a great alternative to just leaving at the door of our local thrift shops.

A tale of two coffee makers

Of course we shouldn’t place such high unwarranted value on inanimate objects. They are just ‘things’ after all.

But what if these things we have tucked away in our closets and garages could add value to someone else’s life. Left in our closet they possess little to no value if we aren’t using them.

But placed in the hands of someone who desperately needs that particular object? Our clutter becomes their treasure.

A few years ago we got given an old coffee machine. The owners had upgraded and where about to take their old one (which worked perfectly fine) to the local recycling centre. Thankfully it found it’s way to our house instead. Let’s just say coffee is an important thing in our house.

I initially kept our plungers thinking they might come in handy as an option. But after a couple of months they just annoyed me, gathering dust in the corner of the bench.

One of my friends had always used instant coffee. Partly because other types of coffee are just that bit more of a stretch on the budget. So I popped over for a coffee and took the plungers I no longer needed, along with some coffee to start her off.

Two mindful decisions about unwanted items made a difference for two families. And if you are a parent who’s been living with sleep deprivation for years, you’ll know these were life changing differences!

Mindful decluttering

Decluttering the things you don’t need and keeping only what’s really important is one of the central tenants of minimalism.

But I don’t buy into the instant gratification that chucking unwanted items in bags and mindlessly discarding them brings. This approach feels shallow and empty. Mindless.

And there have been some unfortunate consequences following the popularity of Marie Kondo’s new Netflix show. Charity stores are overwhelmed worldwide and have struggled to keep up with the influx of the ‘craze’.

When you are decluttering your home, it’s easier to just drop boxes outside your local thrift shop. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I used to bag up any unwanted clothes and take them to my local thrift shop (which shall remain nameless). However, one day, while walking past the back of the shop I discovered them unloading bags and bags of donated clothes into a rubbish skip.

Once I recovered from the shock and horror of this (fast fashion is the second biggest environmental polluter next to oil) I did some research and found another local organization who sort through items and send any that aren’t good enough for resale to be made into rags.

Four reasons to try mindful decluttering

1. Save the environment. As I mentioned above, textile rubbish is one of the fastest-growing contributors to the pollution of our environment. Buying second-hand items, or purchasing from clothing manufacturers that are eco-friendly (think organic, sustainable material) helps this problem. And so does ensuring that what we remove from our closet isn’t just dumped in a skip. Check with your local second-hand store to find out what they do with items they can’t put on their racks.
2. Give to receive. Instead of delivering boxes and bags to a shop, consider finding people who might need your things and delivering them directly. It’s such a privilege and a gift to be able to make someone’s day by giving them something. And the adage saying “it is better to give than to receive” really is true. The joy that giving brings is incomparable.
3. Make some money. I love that giving our items to local thrift shops helps organizations such as the Salvation Army and the SPCA, and I’m not advocating for not donating at all to these places. But if time allows, consider selling your items. Put the money towards debt or put it away for your next holiday.
4. Repurpose. A few years ago I started following the repurposing trends showing up in my Pinterest feed. You can see some of my favorite projects here. Repurposing or reusing our ‘rubbish’ the best option after refusing items. If you can repurpose anything, do this before recycling.

Even if you decide to take this more mindful approach to 10% of your decluttering it could make a huge difference to the environment, your bank balance, and your community.

P.S. If you feeling overwhelmed by the task of decluttering your home I highly recommend participating in this >>> Uncluttered

Uncluttered is a 12-week long course created by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist, and over 30,000 people have participated in the course over the last 3 years.

The course is broken up into four modules;

Module 1: Know your why’s

Module 2: Change your home

Module 3: Develop new habits

Module 4: Experiment with less

Each module contains a video or interview with a leader in the minimalist movement and a guide to the week’s challenge. It also includes 3 live webinars, where you can ask Joshua some of your more tricky questions.

And possibly the best part – you get access to a private Facebook group of other Uncluttered participants. Here you can get pretty constant access to motivation, tips, and inspiration from current and past participants.

If you are considering taking the course this year, I’m very pleased to be able to offer you a friends and family discount of a huge 25%! (just enter FF25 at the checkout).

If you want to find out more about Uncluttered before signing up visit the webpage. You can also email me at simpleslowlovely@gmail.com, or PM me on Facebook or Instagram.

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