On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.
Favourite Comments. Enjoy!
In this comment Jo H tells us how she goes one step further on one of my eco tips. Then Hunter_xs added a little extra advice on the subject in this comment.
Here are a couple of reader updates on the November Keep It Tidy challenge:~
- Maggie is not only rising to the challenge but is actually enjoying it. Good for you Maggie.
- Mark Adam Douglas who inspired the challenge is naturally doing well.
Maggie also had this to say about donating to charity.
Sanna also had some thoughts and experiences to share on giving things away in this comment.
I also enjoyed this exchange between Jo H and Cindy.
Check out Andréia’s progress over the last week or so ~  comment 8 Nov, comment 9 Nov,  comment 13 Nov, comment 14 Nov, comment 15 Nov .
Favourite Web Finds. Happy reading!
I got a shout out from Joshua Becker from Becoming Minimalist last week. Read it here
This Youtube video featuring Nick Vujicic isn’t about decluttering or minimalism but it sure does make you take a long hard look at yourself and remember how lucky you are.
Thank you to whoever sent me this link I only wish I remembered who it was. Those of you who can’t bare to part with the endless supply of art work your little ones bring home this is the ap for you ~ Artkive.
I found this next link via Peter Walsh’s twitter page ~Â www.buzzfeed.com ~ 27-ways-to-make-your-groceries-last-as-long-as-possible
Happiness project ~ Pigeon-of-discontent-I-dont-know-how-to-start-my-happiness-project
Today’s Mini Mission
Declutter something leisure related. Perhaps some sporting equipment, fishing gear or hobby supply that are no longer used.
Today’s Declutter Item
Eco Tip for the Day
This tip is for those with an automatic garage door. Most automatic garage doors have a light that comes on when the door is opening and closing. This light stays on for some minutes after operation has ceased. It is however possible to turn off the light with the door controller to avoid unnecessary waste of electricity. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me sooner but I will certainly to switching the light off in the future.
Andréia says
Hi Colleen! Thanks for all the encouragement you and fellow readers here at 365lessthings gave me! It feels really good when you are at a dead end to see a way out.
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Andréia, there is always a way out my friend all you need to do is look in the right direction.
Lena says
Andréia, you made me laugh with your Lord of the Rings “mine”. that one is a good one. there are items in my household that I cant imagine giving away at all. they are “mine”. (btw: “The little Hobbit” is coming soon – woohoo)
Colleen, I am glad you showed the progress, that is always inspiring. I like reading someones journey from “too scared” to “easy let go”, because that brings motivation and a different time perspective.
I havent decluttered a lot latey, because I am short on time, and I somehow ended on a plateau. it isnt as easy nowadays to find a “what-the” item as it was when I started. but I am making progress on books and DVDs. and also frequently in my wardrobe, but its turning into a special area: from january on I will stop decluttering and start replacing clothes, as I really dont have many items anymore, and I am getting slowly bored with those items left…
I decided for a new personal december challenge: write down a list of my items. each and every single thing, every room. no easy grouping, no cheating. then count, maybe find a number to which I want to come down to (as a next step). I hope to find out which areas need special attention and which priorities I should give items in my home…
Moni says
Lena – I work next door to the carpenters who are re-building Hobbiton, its built properly this time as a permanent location and tourist spot, event centre (Hobbit theme wedding anyone?). Everything has to be era authentic (ok I know it wasn’t a real era, but you know what I mean) look like it is hand crafted and aged.
I too have come to a bit of a standstill with decluttering, but that is because my schedule is too full at the moment and I am getting a little bit cranky as I can see places which could do with a bit of attention. Plus the girls had another clutter amnesty which is dumped on the garage floor.
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Lena there is a good chance that you are just done with the decluttering you need to do. I look forward to the day when I think I am done. There is little point in decluttering just for the same of decluttering and no because you feel you need to.
I feel like I have slowed but I have something to add to the blog each do so obviously I am not. There are things I am keeping because I can unless we move into a smaller place but they will likely have to go should that happen.
Lena says
there is NO WAY I am done! I still have the plan to one day minimize it down to the content of a camping van. Dont know when that will happen, but I gave myself a ultimatum to buy the van – as a first step towards that goal – before I turn 30. that is going to happen in june 2014. In the meantime I need to find new strategies to detect “clutter”…
Colleen Madsen says
Wow Lena, I hope you get there and enjoy life travelling and having great adventures.
Deb J says
Have enjoyed all the commenting this week. I really enjoy all the back and forth conversations. Pigeons of Discontent, what a great name for them. Isn’t it great to have a phone app for taking photos of the kids artwork? What will they think of next?! Nick Vujicic is an inspiration. What a man. As always, Peter Walsh has some interesting things to say. Lots of good stuff here.
Went to the doctor yesterday. All my reports came back good except one of the nodules on my thyroid has changed. Will have to have that seen too but it may mean nothing. The good news is that I have now lost 36 pounds. That’s exciting.
Jennifer L says
Deb J, 36 pounds gone is amazing. Way to declutter!
Andréia says
Hi Deb J! Way to go, congratulations! 36 pounds is a lot!
Colleen Madsen says
Wow Deb J that is good news about your weight loss. There is no stone unturned in your home when it comes to decluttering even body fat isn’t safe. 😉 I hope however that your thyroid issue isn’t anything to be concerned about. Get the tests done as soon as possible so you don’t have to sit around worrying about it.
Lena says
wow, Deb J, thats a lot!! congratulation! I keep my fingers crossed (in germany we “press thumbs”) for your test. I do hope your weight loss improves your health even more, I bet you feel a difference already… Go Go Go
Deb J says
Thanks everyone. Just like decluttering your house I’m taking it one day at a time and slow.
Jane says
Deb! I’m so proud of you! 36 lbs lost is outstanding – good job friend!
snosie says
Love the kids art storage (I feel all ‘kid’ed up after babysitting last night). I also like the 27 storage tips, now to start getting them implemented!!
Loretta says
Congratulations for making it onto Joshua Becker’s blog! I’ve been reading him for years and he always has something interesting to say.
The Eco tip is interesting. We have an electronic garage door at the new house and rather than opening and closing it many times a day to get into the shed behind it (and having the light come on) we just use the side door.
As an aside: now we have a Smart Meter, we’ve been tracking our electricity use daily, it’s a very interesting exercise! We want to get solar panels but aren’t sure what size, etc yet. For such a big house, we use relatively little electricity: an average of around 10Kw a day, even with the gas heater turned on some days – it’s still freezing some mornings. I’d be really interested to know how much people in smaller houses used! Have you written a post on this at all? Might go and trawl the archives…
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Loretta, Joshua Becker has linked to me a couple of times over the years which is very nice of him. He is one of the first minimalist bloggers I ever read.
We only open and close our garage door to drive out as there is also a florescent light right at the internal door to the house. But with two motorbikes and a car coming and going at time I am sure we would save a little electricity if we switched the light of instead of leaving it to turn itself off.
No I haven’t written a post on electricity use but I know there is a form you can get that tells you what certain appliances use. You can also get a gadget to plug into power points which you then plug appliances into to find out how much power each one uses. My father has solar panels and a smart meter and keeps a spreadsheet on what power he uses and what he feeds back into the grid. I am sure you could find out a whole lot via the internet.
Mark Adam Douglass (@MADouglass) says
Thanks for a great round up of links 🙂
Colleen Madsen says
My Pleasure Mark.
Moni says
I’m probably going to pelted with stones at the village borders, but can you remind me why it matters how much electricity we use? Aside from a saving on our power bill? Got asked this today, and came up blank.
Jane says
Takes energy to make energy would be the short answer.
Most US energy comes from mining natural gas & coal. Neither of which is renewable. Mining coal is messy at best & strips away the local environment like Armageddon. Burning coal produces a myriad of toxic emissions (arsenic, mercury, lead, etc) which will work it’s way back thru the eco-system. Soot, smog, coal dust, etc.
Even nuclear power plants produce waste products (spent uranium being the most famous).
Moni says
Hi Jane – aha, I knew there was a reason I was confused, the majority of our electricity in NZ comes from hydro and to a lesser degree wind farms and solar. There is one thing that we have a never ending supply of, and that is rain and snow melt into rivers. No nuclear power here and I think our coal gets exported to China. Still never hurts to not be wasteful does it.
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Moni, you are certainly correct about most of New Zealand’s electricity being sustainable but you might want to read this article.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_New_Zealand
…because if I remember correctly you live in the Auckland area where their demand is exceeding their supply and it is costing billions of dollar for upgrades to bring the power from elsewhere and it is the consumer who will pay for those upgrades one way or another.
Moni says
Hi Colleen – I live in the Bay of Plenty region. Yep that’s its real name. Tauranga City, but we live on the Mt Maunganui side. I live about 3 hours from Auckland.
I’m not surprised if Auckland is exceeding their demand as its a major industry area of the country and a quarter of the countries population living there, and a lot of infrastructure has had to be rebuilt over the last couple of years as they took it from being several seperate cities to one big city. The provences send excess power to the national grid which all evens things out.
My region is coastal and I can see why Captain Cook named it Bay of Plenty (better than down the coast which is Povety Bay). We have the Kaituna river supplying our power.
Colleen Madsen says
Hi Moni, I am glad about that. I must admit that, although it is hardly surprising given its geography, I did not even know until today the NZ had such a high percentage of sustainable electricity supply. I had just never given it any thought. Any wonder you had no idea what I have been on about when it comes to my Eco Tips on electricity conservation.
Jo H. says
Thank you for the youtube video of Nick Vujicic, Colleen. Very inspirational. Anyone who skipped it – it’s worth your time to watch.
Colleen Madsen says
Jo H, I think I have linked to this video before but it is always worth another look.