What if you could save time, save money, enjoy more time yourself or family, be more productive AND help the environment at the same time? Would you believe me? Okay, what if I also said it was pretty darn easy too? You and I both know that if it ain't easy, you can forget it, right? There's a green movement right now for sure, but today is about so much more than just jumping on the green bandwagon.
Today is about creating easily sustainable and maintainable change in your life.
For many, life is currently just too busy and the thought of change is yet another task on the to-do list.
I'm not suggesting you make a complete turnaround today, but I am suggesting you start taking small steps achieve the life you want.
Are you committed to improving your life and environment? A simple life is an easy life, a green life, an organized life, and a life that is purely enjoyable.
I do this through reducing, reusing, and recycling as much as possible.
Going green and organizing go perfectly together.
They play equal parts in your efforts to live harmoniously and well balanced in both your interior and exterior worlds.
They allow you to create personal spaces that are inviting, comfortable and functional.
Are you thinking about your current spaces...
what's coming to mind? Can you visualize the way it could look in your ideal world? What's holding you back? It's time to think about, I mean really think about the social and environmental impact of your purchases.
There's this family, I'll call them the Jones'.
They are the family spending way more than they need to, buying useless gadgets and stuff that only collect dust, filling up every space of their large homes with useless clutter, rushing here and there from work to ballet to soccer to this meeting or that meeting, juggling family, home, and personal responsibilities.
Ahhhh, a simple life...
seems like a faraway place, doesn't it? It's a lot closer than you think.
They are consumed by stuff.
Shopping for, buying, and maintaining stuff! Enough is enough.
It's time to say you want to save money, conserve resources, live and work more easily, you want free time each day to just as you please, and you want to do your part in protecting your environment.
For just a moment, remove yourself from your possessions.
Look around and ask yourself what you truly need for day to day life.
What brings you usefulness or pleasure? What does not? What collects dust, goes unworn, sits needing to be read, repaired, returned, etc? Getting organized and going green can be daunting tasks, but doing even one thing a day or a week makes a big difference.
The 3 R's in a green organizers world are Re-use, Reduce, and Recycle.
The first 'R', is Reuse and quite possibly the most important of the three.
My biggest message to you is this: your home probably contains all the products you need to make up good organizing systems.
Start with a walkthrough of your space to determine what you already own.
Purchasing supplies should be a last resort and only if absolutely necessary.
Repurposing is huge.
EVERYTHING has multiple purposes; you just need to get a little creative.
Just because something has a specific purpose, doesn't mean you can't break the rules and reuse for another function.
You will give new life to forgotten, unused items that are just taking up space.
The second 'R' is Reduce.
The condition of your lives is the direct result of how you spend your time.
If you spend all your time shopping and buying stuff, you may very well experience a cluttered life.
You have to realize and understand the cause and effect relationships.
Shopping is a huge factor in clutter.
Shop at home first! Use what you have, wear it out, make do or do without.
This how Americans used to live and everyone survived just fine.
Conscious consumption involves a change in habits and thought processes.
It involves slowing down your purchasing and asking yourself hard questions before you purchase.
What are the downstream and upstream effects of your purchase? Understand how things travel to us, packing materials, and product materials.
How will I use? What am I willing to get rid of to make way for the new item? Consider that the less you buy, the less that is made, and the less resources we consume.
Maybe you're not a big shopper, but you probably have gifts from friends and family filling some of your precious spaces.
To avoid the problem, consider asking anyone who would give you a gift for gift cards or donations to charity in your name.
These are all ways you can reduce the volume of stuff entering your home.
Last, but certainly not the least 'R', "Recycle"...
throughout the sorting, purging and organizing process, think about the benefits of recycling.
Each community is different so learn about what you can recycle and keep out of the landfills.
Donate items you no longer use, love, or need to those that will put them to good use.
Don't be so eager to purge that you forget about where stuff is going.
Think "green" when organizing.
You will not only reduce your clutter and find things more easily; you will be helping the earth in the process.
Imagine not needing a bigger space anymore.
You can forget that big, energy hogging house you thought you needed.
Imagine room to breathe.
Living green is easy.
What will you do today?