Organizing Tips: 3 Steps to Clutter-Free Living
(Page 3 of 4)
January/February 2007
By Misty McNally
Instead of: Plastic crates or modular pieces
Use this: Metal modular furnishings, or those made from wood or other fibers
Storage tips: Steel or aluminum modular furnishings or stackable storage bins are sturdy and ultimately recyclable. Or look for modulars made from either Forest Stewardship Council–certified wood or wood substitutes, including bamboo, wheatboard (made from wheat stalks) or Kirei board (constructed from sorghum stalks).
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Instead of: Plastic zip bags
Use this: Cloth bags or canvas bins
Storage tips: Tote bags, cloth laundry bags or canvas bins are ideal for storing clothing, towels, linens and craft supplies.
Instead of: Plastic laundry hampers
Use this: Baskets
Storage tips: Look for fair trade baskets made from all-natural or recycled materials.
More of what matters
Need to let go of some belongings? Here’s inspiration from architect Sarah Susanka, bestselling author of The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Taunton, 2001).
“We are all hunting for more meaning in our lives. And the way that we do that is extremely ineffective. We buy more and more stuff, believing that the stuff is going to give us that feeling of satisfaction. There’s always this longing for something we don’t have.
We end up in this cycle of accumulation of things that are supposed to make us feel better, but with multiplicity, we end up overwhelmed and incredibly dissatisfied––overwhelmed with what was supposed to be this life-enhancing thing that has become this albatross. And the more we have, the more of an albatross it is.
What we really want is meaning. And we can’t get meaning with stuff. In the same way stuff is a surrogate for meaning, a bigger and bigger house is what we think is going to make us feel at home. In fact, it has the opposite effect.
An awful lot of the stuff we have—and I’m not talking about one or two things, I’m talking about 50 percent—we literally never use and are never planning to use again, but can’t let go of. They are basically objects in which we’ve invested dreams that didn’t happen. It’s very difficult to let go of the dreams, even though we know that they didn’t actually bring us the satisfaction we were hoping for.
What I recommend is: Get a self-storage unit. Give yourself a year. Take the things that you are not using right now and know that if you really miss something, you can go get it. And then after the end of that year, see if you actually even remember what is in that storage unit. If you don’t, that’s The Stuff—you need to have a big garage sale or estate sale.”