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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 29, 2024 15:46:23 GMT
so now one whole can ends up getting filled with big piles of flattened cardboard making it hard to fit in all of the household recycling stuff because it only gets picked up every other week. Honestly? In that case I toss any boxes that don't fit into recycling into the regular trash. Once you do a little research on how much recycling turned in is actually recycled, you shouldn't feel badly about it either. Having control of my home and space is more important to hanging on to recycling that may or may not actually end up recycled. Well, we have two bins which definitely helps. Plus our elderly neighbor puts out nearly empty bins every two weeks so ever since we haven’t been able to use the commercial recycling dumpster I’ve been putting our overflow for recycling in the neighbor’s recycling bin (we asked, and he doesn’t care). It’s not so much that I have to hang onto it, it’s more that it’s just a hassle to have to deal with all that cardboard. I also hate the way that the bins are designed so they’re smaller at the bottom than they are at the top which makes it hard to efficiently fill them even if the boxes are all flattened down and cut up. I did resort to putting the multiple huge bags of shredded paper into the trash when I couldn’t find another place to take it. We used to be able to put it in with regular recycling if it was in a paper bag that was stapled shut, but they stopped accepting it that way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more minutes to just pull off the parts of the papers with sensitive information on them to shred and put the rest of it in the regular recycling which really cut down what goes through the shredder. |
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Post by Linda on Jan 29, 2024 16:21:00 GMT
hmm...I suspect that the mail-away scanning places might be able to handle them. If they were mine, I would check with my local computer guys as I think they would be able to scan them for me. I did find this article discussing scanning with a smart phone and an app. www.thefamilyheart.com/scan-negatives-with-your-phone/Kodak Mobile Film Scanner sounded like the best option for old black and white negatives to me. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 29, 2024 16:48:15 GMT
I did resort to putting the multiple huge bags of shredded paper into the trash when I couldn’t find another place to take it. We used to be able to put it in with regular recycling if it was in a paper bag that was stapled shut, but they stopped accepting it that way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more minutes to just pull off the parts of the papers with sensitive information on them to shred and put the rest of it in the regular recycling which really cut down what goes through the shredder.Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 29, 2024 17:04:15 GMT
Yay, I bet that feels good! Can you use the hanging rolling rack in your sewing room? Have you considered using the room for something else? Like a project room or proper storage room? The rolling rack folds up and lives on the wall in the garage, so no need to relocate it in the house. The guest room will remain a guest room as we want the option of having one. In the past 2 years it has been used when DH had Covid and again when the electricity was out at DD's apartment for a couple of days. So while we don't have guests it sometimes is used. It will continue to be a storage room (with less stuff and more organized!) and perhaps for workouts. We are considering either a daybed or a Murphy bed instead of a queen size bed though to save on floor space. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 29, 2024 17:20:23 GMT
I did resort to putting the multiple huge bags of shredded paper into the trash when I couldn’t find another place to take it. We used to be able to put it in with regular recycling if it was in a paper bag that was stapled shut, but they stopped accepting it that way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more minutes to just pull off the parts of the papers with sensitive information on them to shred and put the rest of it in the regular recycling which really cut down what goes through the shredder.Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! Nope, they don’t take shredded paper anymore which was why I had to trash multiple HUGE bags of it. There used to be a recycling center that would take it after the curbside trash company stopped picking it up, but now they don’t take it either. It literally takes less than a minute when I’m going through the mail and our business paperwork each day to rip off the part of the paper I want shredded so more of the stuff can go straight into the recycling bag (low time consumption and zero added cost since that’s included in our trash bill) vs. having to take the whole lot to a shredding facility (obviously higher time consumption because I haven’t been able to get my really old boxes of stuff that I’m NOT taking the time to go through page by page to a shredding event in over a year, and would be an added cost of roughly $1 a pound if I don’t take it to one of the free shredding events in the area). We have multiple businesses so there are some things that absolutely need to be shredded. It’s more about keeping sensitive information secure, like old tax documents with social security numbers or invoices with client’s credit card numbers which occasionally have to get written down, etc. I’m pretty sure no one would want that piece of paper with their bank account or credit card number, expiration date and security code to blow out of the trash truck (I have found similar things blowing around on the street in front of my house after recycling pickup). I tried getting one of the privacy stamps that you can use to cross out stuff like account numbers, etc. so I could just recycle all of it, but it died within a couple weeks and it can’t be reinked. Plus it didn’t totally blot out the information on all kinds of paper, especially the shiny stuff a lot of marketing companies use. So now I just rip off those literal bits of paper and toss them in a box to run through the shredder every 4-6 months and put the small bag of shredded stuff in the trash. ETA: the huge bags of stuff were generated from the time when I used to shred the whole paper, now I only shred the bits that are ripped off which takes much less time overall. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 29, 2024 17:37:03 GMT
hmm...I suspect that the mail-away scanning places might be able to handle them. If they were mine, I would check with my local computer guys as I think they would be able to scan them for me. I did find this article discussing scanning with a smart phone and an app. www.thefamilyheart.com/scan-negatives-with-your-phone/Kodak Mobile Film Scanner sounded like the best option for old black and white negatives to me. I’ve read about the phone app thing but haven’t had time to really research it. I’m not really even sure what or who is on the negatives so until I can take a look myself it wouldn’t be something I want to spend a lot of money on to send them out. Some are so old that whatever was on them has totally faded out. I have a professional light box that I used when I was in art school so that’s going to be my first step, seeing if I can sort out the ones that might have some useful images from the ones that can just be pitched. |
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Post by ntsf on Jan 29, 2024 17:41:20 GMT
I do two things to digitize old slides and prints. If I have a bunch, I just get the bargain/sale package from scancafe and send it all off.. I have used them for over 10 yrs and am happy with the service. I have also had them digitize old 8 mm film.
if it is a random picture.. or I am visiting someone I use photomyne. it works quite well.. but the resolution is not the highest quality. It can be tough to get a good scan without reflection. it is a subscription service, which I don't mind paying for..
check out youtube videos by the photo managers group.
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Post by bunnyhug on Jan 29, 2024 18:43:06 GMT
I did resort to putting the multiple huge bags of shredded paper into the trash when I couldn’t find another place to take it. We used to be able to put it in with regular recycling if it was in a paper bag that was stapled shut, but they stopped accepting it that way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more minutes to just pull off the parts of the papers with sensitive information on them to shred and put the rest of it in the regular recycling which really cut down what goes through the shredder.Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! I use the shredded paper from dh's office as mulch in the more 'hidden' areas of our yard--it keeps the weeds down under shrubs, etc, and within about a year the paper breaks down and I can add another layer. It's been a great way for me to reuse the paper. I also keep some 'sensitive' documents to use in starting our wood burning fireplace ... it's beautifully cathartic to burn things like old diaries and no longer needed documents! |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 29, 2024 18:55:54 GMT
I did resort to putting the multiple huge bags of shredded paper into the trash when I couldn’t find another place to take it. We used to be able to put it in with regular recycling if it was in a paper bag that was stapled shut, but they stopped accepting it that way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more minutes to just pull off the parts of the papers with sensitive information on them to shred and put the rest of it in the regular recycling which really cut down what goes through the shredder.Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! Well said. This is basically what I was getting at in my post about the Facebook group and trying to find specific places or uses for very specific things like trophies. I see much more of that in that group than here, but I feel the same. For most things just getting it out of the house and making visual progress in my home is what I need to focus on. I can then focus more on limiting what comes in and not wasting that way. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 29, 2024 21:06:40 GMT
Well said. This is basically what I was getting at in my post about the Facebook group and trying to find specific places or uses for very specific things like trophies. I see much more of that in that group than here, but I feel the same. For most things just getting it out of the house and making visual progress in my home is what I need to focus on. I can then focus more on limiting what comes in and not wasting that way. That is a good way to approach the beginning of a big decluttering project. Everyone needs to work at their own pace and do what works for their situation. Good for you for recognizing what is working for you and what isn't! I've noticed over time that some tend get bogged down in the minutia of where and how to get rid of things. Sometimes they are not open to suggestions for other/better options, but are simply looking for a place to vent. My worry is that the newbies will be overwhelmed and scared off! There is so much media that aims to guilt us for trashing things, and I want everyone to be realistic with realizing that not everything can be passed along or recycled - or even should be. No one should be made to feel bad for just saying the heck with it and tossing things in the trash! I also keep some 'sensitive' documents to use in starting our wood burning fireplace ... it's beautifully cathartic to burn things like old diaries and no longer needed documents! I love it! Sparking joy while decluttering! Marie would be proud!  |
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Jan 29, 2024 21:51:13 GMT
Dh went through the four drawers in his dresser today. Many shirts no longer fit or interest him. Some will become rags and many will be donated. He had some new socks from years ago that don’t interest him that we will donate. Some t-shirts were hard to part with (that don’t fit). I suggested we can make them into grocery bags, win win. With the new bylaw here they are really encouraging people to use their own bags. We already have several bags on the go.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 29, 2024 22:03:41 GMT
Some t-shirts were hard to part with (that don’t fit). I suggested we can make them into grocery bags, win win. That's an interesting use for old t-shirts I've not heard of! My mind went to a t-shirt quilt, but that's the quilter in me coming out. I also make cleaning rags out of them. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 30, 2024 2:23:22 GMT
I was motivated by LavenderLayoutLady to go through my socks, panties, bras and lounging clothes as a quick reality check when I actually emptied a drawer showed me I have been clutter blind in that area as well. I could do with more panties because some of them are a bit worn, but as I’ve been losing a significant amount of weight I am just going to make do with these for now. I got rid of the worst offenders and have a decent amount in great shape at smaller sizes. I was able to donate half a dozen things, and throw away a bit more. Didn’t have any take-out menu’s to get rid of, but I did have a few small catalogues they send out about things around town throughout the year. They’re super informative, but I never think to check it out I just read it when we get it then file it. And all of the same information is available online. Finished wiping down the inside of our bathroom cabinets, drawers, shelves and medicine cabinets and cleaning the storage bins inside them. So my bathroom declutter and organizing is complete! Now I’m ready for those rooms on the Cleaning Grand Plan. Didn’t work on the living room for that today. But tonight I’m going to copy and modify the list for our needs. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 30, 2024 12:36:15 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar: Declutter candles, like the one that is bent.Go through your house checking shelves, closets, cabinets and drawers and make sure you have all of them. Are there some you’re not in love with? Consider getting rid of them. Are you really going to get through all you want to keep in a reasonable amount of time based on how often you actually use them? If you have candles for emergencies make sure they’re stored with your other emergency supplies and perhaps one in each nightstand with a container and a lighter/matches. We use these lanterns for camping and in case of emergencies; have them in each of our nightstands and a couple downstairs. Besides being bright I love that they’re really compact and to turn them on you just pull up on the handles, no fumbling for the power button in the dark. If you have time once you’ve decluttered try and organize them. Do you keep them all together in one spot or have dedicated scents for different areas of the home? Has this worked for you or do you tend to overbuy because you don’t have a handle on how many you have and which ones? If that’s the case, consider consolidating them into one area so you can see at a glance how many you have. Decide on a limit for the amount of space you’re willing to dedicate to them, and stick to it! Bonus: Gather and organize your other scented home products. We only burn unscented votives in a few holders when we use our china, and those are stored together in our buffet. Other than that we have a few decorative candles to go inside hurricane globes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those are stored together in a box in a closet instead of with the other holiday decorations in the garage. I tried reed diffusers, but I get used to the smell too quickly so my favorite containers were turned into bud vases that I like to use in various places when the bouquet has seen better days and is ready to be broken down. I am interested in a diffused scent that turns itself off and on. Any recommendations? |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 30, 2024 12:47:51 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar: Declutter candles, like the one that is bent.Go through your house checking shelves, closets, cabinets and drawers and make sure you have all of them. Are there some you’re not in love with? Consider getting rid of them. Are you really going to get through all you want to keep in a reasonable amount of time based on how often you actually use them? If you have candles for emergencies make sure they’re stored with your other emergency supplies and perhaps one in each nightstand with a container and a lighter/matches. We use these lanterns for camping and in case of emergencies; have them in each of our nightstands and a couple downstairs. Besides being bright I love that they’re really compact and to turn them on you just pull up on the handles, no fumbling for the power button in the dark. If you have time once you’ve decluttered try and organize them. Do you keep them all together in one spot or have dedicated scents for different areas of the home? Has this worked for you or do you tend to overbuy because you don’t have a handle on how many you have and which ones? If that’s the case, consider consolidating them into one area so you can see at a glance how many you have. Decide on a limit for the amount of space you’re willing to dedicate to them, and stick to it! Bonus: Gather and organize your other scented home products. We only burn unscented votives in a few holders when we use our china, and those are stored together in our buffet. Other than that we have a few decorative candles to go inside hurricane globes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those are stored together in a box in a closet instead of with the other holiday decorations in the garage. I tried reed diffusers, but I get used to the smell too quickly so my favorite containers were turned into bud vases that I like to use in various places when the bouquet has seen better days and is ready to be broken down. I am interested in a diffused scent that turns itself off and on. Any recommendations? Ooohhhh…this is an area where I have a hard time. I have A LOT of candles and I used to sell scentsy (years ago) and have a lot of that as well. I do use them often but could go through and see if there are any I don’t really like. But I did that a few months ago and still have a lot. I’ve skipped the last few candle days at bath and body works but did buy one at target a few weeks ago. Love the scents but the target one doesn’t throw scent very well. We have a closet in the living room that houses games. One shelf has my nail polish and candles so they are all in one spot. I put anything that is seasonal with that decor in the crawl space when I switch things out. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 30, 2024 12:55:51 GMT
iamkristinl16 At least you know there is one that can go, bye bye Target candle! Does your crawl space not get very hot? We don’t have one so I’m unfamiliar with them. The highest I’ve seen our garage get in the last 15 South Central Texas summers is 77 degrees, which is amazing. But I love these candles, they were expensive, I won’t shop at Hobby Lobby to replace them and I haven’t come across them anywhere else. So just in case I store them inside with the holiday CD collection we have. It kills me that they’re holiday items not stored with the rest of the holiday items. My brain is screaming at me “like with like!”
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 30, 2024 15:16:20 GMT
Does your crawl space not get very hot? We don’t have one so I’m unfamiliar with them. The highest I’ve seen our garage get in the last 15 South Central Texas summers is 77 degrees, which is amazing. I asked her a similar question a few pages back. Different climate for sure! Amazing that your garage only gets to 77 in summer. Must be completely finished and well insulated. Is there a vent from the a/c into your garage? We have to be so careful what we store in our garage. It is the original detached from 1958 and unfinished, uninsulated inside. Once considered tearing it down and rebuilding, but decided we'd rather spend the money inside the house. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 30, 2024 15:36:10 GMT
Does your crawl space not get very hot? We don’t have one so I’m unfamiliar with them. The highest I’ve seen our garage get in the last 15 South Central Texas summers is 77 degrees, which is amazing. I asked her a similar question a few pages back. Different climate for sure! Amazing that your garage only gets to 77 in summer. Must be completely finished and well insulated. Is there a vent from the a/c into your garage? We have to be so careful what we store in our garage. It is the original detached from 1958 and unfinished, uninsulated inside. Once considered tearing it down and rebuilding, but decided we'd rather spend the money inside the house. I remember the crawl space discussion, even the photos, but not about temperature. My brain is old before its time for sure The builder didn't insulate any of the interior walls, though they did a fantastic job on the attic. So as it was being built DH rushed ahead of them and insulated all of upstairs and the entire garage. He wasn’t able to get to a few walls downstairs before they hung the drywall, but it has made a huge difference for us. The garage does have fully finished walls, but the door itself isn’t insulated yet. We keep meaning to but just haven’t gotten there yet. It isn’t one of the standard sizes where you can buy the pretty precut panels to slip into the door panels. The exterior walls are brick and it faces the NE so it doesn’t get the blazing afternoon sun. No vent into the space, although that would be nice as DH has a few of his workout machines in there. |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 30, 2024 17:49:07 GMT
iamkristinl16 At least you know there is one that can go, bye bye Target candle! Does your crawl space not get very hot? We don’t have one so I’m unfamiliar with them. The highest I’ve seen our garage get in the last 15 South Central Texas summers is 77 degrees, which is amazing. But I love these candles, they were expensive, I won’t shop at Hobby Lobby to replace them and I haven’t come across them anywhere else. So just in case I store them inside with the holiday CD collection we have. It kills me that they’re holiday items not stored with the rest of the holiday items. My brain is screaming at me “like with like!” Our crawlspace seems to be the same temp as the rest of the house year round. |
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Post by mikklynn on Jan 30, 2024 18:28:24 GMT
Like **GypsyGirl**, I cut up old t-shirts for rags. I use white ones in the kitchen, so I can just bleach them with dish towels. It saves on paper towels. I cut them with a rotary cutter, so it's quick. |
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760 
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Post by mich5481 on Jan 30, 2024 19:22:28 GMT
I'm still at Mayo, but I have been making progress on the candle front over the past few years. When I moved up to NC in 2020, I probably had close to 80 or 90 Bath and Body Works candles of various sizes. I have completely stopped buying B&BW, AND I've been burning my candles. I think I am down to maybe 2.5 dozen of various sizes?
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 30, 2024 20:34:59 GMT
I'm still at Mayo, but I have been making progress on the candle front over the past few years. When I moved up to NC in 2020, I probably had close to 80 or 90 Bath and Body Works candles of various sizes. I have completely stopped buying B&BW, AND I've been burning my candles. I think I am down to maybe 2.5 dozen of various sizes? Use the good fabric...burn the good candles. Same difference! Hope things are going well at Mayo. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 30, 2024 20:50:50 GMT
Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! I use the shredded paper from dh's office as mulch in the more 'hidden' areas of our yard--it keeps the weeds down under shrubs, etc, and within about a year the paper breaks down and I can add another layer. It's been a great way for me to reuse the paper. I also keep some 'sensitive' documents to use in starting our wood burning fireplace ... it's beautifully cathartic to burn things like old diaries and no longer needed documents! You need to be really careful with burning paper in a wood burning fireplace. The lady we bought ours from told us to never do that because it causes creosote to build up in the chimney which can cause a dangerous chimney fire. But now burning stuff outside in a firepit (on a non windy day when there isn’t a burning restriction) works great. |
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760
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Post by mich5481 on Jan 30, 2024 20:51:06 GMT
I'm still at Mayo, but I have been making progress on the candle front over the past few years. When I moved up to NC in 2020, I probably had close to 80 or 90 Bath and Body Works candles of various sizes. I have completely stopped buying B&BW, AND I've been burning my candles. I think I am down to maybe 2.5 dozen of various sizes? Use the good fabric...burn the good candles. Same difference! Hope things are going well at Mayo. Thanks! My mom has tests all this week, so I'm hoping for good news later this week. We are also trying to get worked in for a treatment for some nerve pain. Currently it is scheduled for 2/19, so 🤞 someone cancels this week. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 30, 2024 21:02:15 GMT
Pretty sure no one takes shredded paper for recycling anymore. It apparently messes up the sorting machines, or so we were told at a recycling facility. As for pulling off sensitive information to shred, that's not a very efficient cost to time ratio! I simply have too many things that rank higher in priority than keeping a few more sheets of paper out of the trash. When we make these decisions on decluttering, it is important to consider that cost to time ratio. Unless you are going for a zero waste home, then we need to accept that while we should recycle/upcycle what we can, there is going to be trash. Always ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and if an action gets you closer to that more quickly, or is it an excuse/stall tactic for not getting rid of more? I found I was guilty of the stall tactic. What I am trying to say is that in posts here I see so much shame of not doing 100% to recycle, donate or upcycle items. What that ends up doing is bogging people down. Between the personal emotions/guilt some of us deal with, now we have the media and society piling on guilt for not recycling, etc. I've reached a point in life where I am fed up with guilt and shame of not doing things to some elusive standard, especially when it impedes on my time! I use the shredded paper from dh's office as mulch in the more 'hidden' areas of our yard--it keeps the weeds down under shrubs, etc, and within about a year the paper breaks down and I can add another layer. It's been a great way for me to reuse the paper. I also keep some 'sensitive' documents to use in starting our wood burning fireplace ... it's beautifully cathartic to burn things like old diaries and no longer needed documents! Now that we got rid of the HUGE mass of shredded paper, it’s not an issue anymore thankfully. The amount I shred now is minuscule because most of the paper goes into a bag for curbside recycling. I bet some of the more glossy coated paper takes a long time to break down as compost because it doesn’t even burn well. |
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,850
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Jan 30, 2024 21:37:33 GMT
uses for very specific things like trophies. Summer Camps love used trophies. When my ds was a leader, I would go to thrift stores and find trophies and we would reuse them. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 31, 2024 14:44:13 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar:
Sort through pictures - any duplicates to give away, bad pictures.
I have to laugh that there is only one task dedicated to this! Maybe your photos are all over and need to be gathered together instead. If so, grab a box and start walking around collecting them. Or go through the photos on your phone.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 31, 2024 15:48:39 GMT
Sort through pictures - any duplicates to give away, bad pictures.I have to laugh that there is only one task dedicated to this! Maybe your photos are all over and need to be gathered together instead. If so, grab a box and start walking around collecting them. Or go through the photos on your phone. Totally agree. This is one that will take weeks for me. |
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760
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Post by mich5481 on Jan 31, 2024 17:32:06 GMT
Sort through pictures - any duplicates to give away, bad pictures.I have to laugh that there is only one task dedicated to this! Maybe your photos are all over and need to be gathered together instead. If so, grab a box and start walking around collecting them. Or go through the photos on your phone. Totally agree. This is one that will take weeks for me. Only weeks? 🤣 |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 31, 2024 18:37:22 GMT
Totally agree. This is one that will take weeks for me. Only weeks? 🤣 That's if I actually get my tush in gear! Back in the aughts I spent a month sorting all of our photos by year, beginning with 1977. I also sorted them by event and made notes on dates/places. Most of the photos from 2000-2006/7 have been scrapbooked and I switched to digital in 2008. So a lot of the heavy lifting has been done - thankfully! Now it's a matter of tossing duplicates, blurry photos and photos of people we have no idea who they are. Just need to make it a top priority and get it done! |
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