Day 205 Back to the phone book issue

Well who’d have thought that my little rant on Day 203 would get such a reaction. Luckily that means we have had some very helpful readers comment with some useful information on how we can combat the waste of unwanted phone books. Some had the details we need to cancel delivery so we avoid receiving them in the future and others had some novel approaches on other uses for them. Di in particular was being very resourceful and cheeky at the same time.

I know quite of lot of my readers also read the comments so have probably already read this information but I know I don’t always follow through that well with the blogs I read (simply because I don’t have the time) so I have put it to the front as today’s post in case anyone missed it.

Here are some reader responses

Rachel

For Canceling phone book delivery in the US……(copied from the Yellow Pages website)

visit http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org to opt out of unsolicited phone book deliveries.
YellowPagesGoesGreen.org hopes to have 1 million people signed up to opt out of unsolicited phone book delivery by the end of the year. You can help them reach that goal by encouraging your friends and family to sign up.

I had just managed to find this site myself when Rachels response came through. Thank you Rachel this is particularly helpful.

Loretta (from Australia)

I just cancelled my Yellow and White Pages this week!
Call 1800 008 292, and they will do it, no problems.
This is an Australian 1800 number and won’t work anywhere else.

This one was particularly useful to me because I also live in Australia

Reggie

Hey Colleen… Hm, maybe you can use old phone books to feed your fire place if you have one? I also know some people who use the pages in the phone book to put into their mulch. I don’t know too much about landscaping but it’s just an option! If I think of any other ideas, I’ll let you know.

I suggested to Reggie that the pages could also be used under mulch to act as a weed mat. I know I could use a little help with weeds. To bad clover and dandelion aren’t good in a salad otherwise I could start a cottage garden business at the moment.

Di

We recently returned from a trip through South Dakota and on a very beautiful country road with no people or cars in sight for miles around was a small rest area under some trees with an outhouse. It contained a roll of very soft TP and also a large phone book that showed obvious use hanging from a chain. Just an alternative to sending it out for recycling. lol

Di you are such a funny one. I am all for protecting the environment but I am not sure I am prepared to go that far.

Rebecca the Greeniac

I canceled ours about a year ago. There was some little hidden link on the Qwest Dex website that let me do it online. Now we just get a little door hanger saying “are you SURE you don’t want phone books?” that goes on and on about how they’re made from recycled paper yada yada yada…

It was this hint from Rebecca that had me searching for the information that Rachel also came up with.

What would I do without my wonderful readers and the helpful information they have to share with us all. Thank you again everyone who contributed. We have all learned a new way to pre-empt the necessity to recycle phone books. One less thing to declutter every year.

ITEM 205 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This was one of those impulse buys of my daughter that has sat unused in a drawer for years. It going to the thrift store with a bunch of other stuff next week. Hopefully someone will find it useful.

Bridget's Diary

Comments (6)

Day 203 Phone Books

I am giving you a reprieve today and keeping my post short.

I opened my front door the other day to find a pile of recycling sitting on my door step. One would think that in the 21st century that the company that publishes and distributes phone books would find a way of determining whether you wish to take possession of them before they drop them uninvited on your front porch.

I know that there are still plenty of people out their who aren’t computer literate and still have a need for these massive tomes.  I however am not one of them, I can easily look up what I want on-line should I find it necessary.

After a search to see if there was a phone number to call with information on how to return them I gave up in disgust and threw them into the recycling bin. I know they will be pulped and reused for something else but as I pointed out in my post  on Day 200 all this processing is not good for the environment. I will have to investigate if there is something I can do to avoid the same thing happening next year.

ITEM 203 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Talking of recycling, I have been slowly working through the stuff in the garage that my daughter decluttered from her room and this pile of a school notebook pages was the thing to get thrown out today.
Used not book pages

Comments (16)

Day 201 Helping hands

On Day 186 I asked for your help with examples of friends helping friends declutter. I received several emails from some very helpful people how had some wonderful experiences to share with you all.

Here is what our friends had to say…

Cindy

I have quite a bit of experience with this. My friend Holly and I have done it five times, in segments of about three hours each. The first time, the kids were playing together and I did not want to just sit around, so I asked if there was anything she needed help doing, and we went through her whole wardrobe. She tried on, and I “yeahed” and “nayed”, hung the clothes back up, and folded the items for the thrift store.

When we work together, the person who’s house it is usually does the sorting while the other person tidies the area, gets everything out, puts like things together, puts it away (with instruction), and offers encouragement.

I’ve also worked with professional organizers. It’s a similar, but faster, process.

It’s a lot more fun and more productive then going it on your own, and often I feel so excited afterwards that I get another couple of hours done by myself.

Valentina

At my place we regularly have declutter parties. That means that everybody still declutters on their own, but we bring everything to my place to make a fashion show out of it (for clothing) and an antique market for all other stuff. Everything that does not find a new owner then goes to local charity. And usually that’s more than half of the stuff.

We do this around every 4-5 months and it has become some kind of tradition, people are keen to bring stuff along, so they declutter to be able to participate.

Willow

I have a friend with whom I dejunk  with on a regular basis. We have similar attitudes although she has more stuff than I do because she still has three sons living at home. We schedule days and the ‘hostess’ has her plan in place for where and what we’ll declutter.

When my friend is at my house, she will load up anything I’m not keeping and take it directly to the goodwill on her way home. And I do the same thing for her. That way there is no way we can rummage in the bags and pull an item back out again.

I’ve helped other people in their homes and I have only one rule…”You may not get mad at me.” If I overstep my place, just tell me when an item is off limits. Setting parameters ahead of time keeps people from getting upset.

Meg

I’ve been doing my kitchen uncluttering pretty much all on my own, but I get “help” by having my daughter-in-law choose what she likes from everything before I move it on out. She and my son have recently bought their first house and they can now use a few things. My mom has taken a couple things to replace her more worn items, and I’m giving away many things to friends who own food-based businesses. Nobody can really afford to buy anything in this crazy economy.

Deb J

I have helped friends with decluttering several times. As an organizer I have a way that I set this up when there is more than one person there. I have the home owner(s) decide ahead what things need to be gone through so there is some order to the process. When everyone is there I have them divide into teams and assign them a particular room. They are to go through everything that has been designated to be sorted in that one room. They are to make 3 piles…keep, give and toss. Once that is done the home owner goes in and looks through the piles and decided if she agrees with the piles or not. If there is something in the give or toss pile she wants to keep then she needs to defend her decision.

It’s amazing how well it seems to work. In most cases very little is taken out of the give or toss piles and many times more is taken from the keep pile and put in the other two. I think it sometimes helps to have someone who is unattached to the things help with the sorting.

Each example has a different approach and if you combined all the useful strategies from each  I am sure you will have a fun and very effective time decluttering with your friends. On Behalf of everyone reading today’s blog I would like to thank the wonderful ladies who contributed their stories with the selfless intention of helping others.

ITEM 210 OF 365 LESS THINGS

This sleeping bag probably hasn’t been used in 15 years so it is time to pass it on to someone who might have a use for it.

Cindy

I have quite a bit of experience with this. My friend Holly and I have done it 5 times, in segments of about 3 hours each. The first time, the kids were playing together and I did not want to just sit around, so I asked if there was anything she needed help doing, and we went through her whole wardrobe. She tried on, and I “yeahed” and “nayed”, hung the clothes back up, and folded the items for the thrift store.

When we work together, the person who’s house it is usually does the sorting while the other person tidies the area, gets everything out, puts like things together, puts it away (with instruction), and offers encouragement.

I’ve also worked with professional organizers. It’s a similar, but faster, process.

It’s a lot more fun and more productive then going it on your own, and often I feel so excited afterwards that I get another couple hours done by myself.

Valentina

At my place we regular make declutter parties. That means that everybody still declutters on their own, but we bring everything to my place to make a fashion show out of it (for clothing) and an antique market for all other stuff. Everything that does not find a new owner then goes to local charity. And usually that’s more than half of the stuff.

As we do this around every 4-5 month and it has become some kind of tradition, people are keen to bring stuff along, so they declutter to be able to participate 😉

Willow 
I have 1 (ONE!) friend with whom I dejunk on a regular basis. We have similar attitudes although she has ALOT more stuff than I do. In her defense, she still has three sons living at home. We schedule days and the 'hostess' has her plan in place for where and what we'll declutter.
 
One other little tip I have for you is when my friend is at my house, she will load up anything I'm not keeping and take it directly to the goodwill on her way home.  And I do the same thing for her.  That way there is no way we can rummage in the bags and pull an item back out again :)
 
I've helped other people in their homes and I have only one rule. "You may not get mad at me." If I overstep my place, just tell me that item is off limits. Setting parameters ahead of time keeps people from getting upset. 
 
 
Meg
 
I've been doing my kitchen uncluttering pretty much all on my own, but I get "help" by having my daughter-in-law choose what she likes from everything before I move it on out. She and my son have recently bought their first house and they can now use a few things. My mom has taken a couple things to replace her more worn items, and I'm giving away many things to friends who own food-based businesses. Nobody can really afford to buy anything in this stupid economy.
 
 
Deb J
 
I have helped friends with decluttering several times. As an organizer I have a way that I set this up when there is more than one person there. I have home owner(s)decide ahead what things need to be gone through so there is some order to the process. When everyone is there I have them divide into teams and assign them a particular room. They are to go through everything that has been designated to be sorted in that one room. They are to make 3 piles--keep, give, toss. Once that is done the home owner goes in and looks through the piles and decided if she agrees with the piles or not. If there is something in the give or toss pile she wants to keep then she needs to defend her decision.
It's amazing how well it seems to work. In most cases very little is taken out of the give or toss piles and many times more is taken from the keep pile and put in the other two. I think it sometimes helps to have someone who is unattached to the things help with the sorting.

Sleeping Bag

Comments (6)

Day 196 Keys to staying decluttered

A place for everything and everything in it’s place!

  • If you always know where everything is you won’t need to replace it because you can’t find it.

Know the difference between need and want

  • It is easy to convince yourself that something you want is something you need. Don’t be fooled by this.

Only shop for what you need

  • This one speaks for itself, if you aren’t bringing anything you don’t need into your home it will stay uncluttered.

Make it clear you don’t want clutter gifts

  • If you plan ahead with this one it will save a lot of embarrassment of refusing to accept such gifts.

Remove clutter receptacles in your home

  • Adding clutter is difficult if you have no where to store it. Things such as bookcases, display cabinets, baskets, shelves and storage containers are clutter receptacles. Get rid of them as soon as you get rid of the clutter that was in them or you may just fill them up again.

Don’t sacrifice your principals for the desires of others

  • Don’t accept other peoples clutter just so you don’t hurt their feelings. Your feelings matter too and you shouldn’t be expected to sabotage your lifestyle in this way.

Remove any items that become useless immediately

  • Lifestyle changes are inevitable as time goes by. Once an item become of no further use to you remove it from your home or once again clutter will start to develop. Just because something wasn’t clutter once doesn’t mean it won’t become clutter in the future.

It am sure there are more strategies that should be on this list but it is late and I am tired so I will leave it at that for now. If anyone has anything they think should be included please leave a comment and I will add it  and perhaps make a page of it.

ITEM 196 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Maybe I should add cancel magazine subscriptions to the list above
Sports Illustrated mags

Comments (13)

Day 194 Too good to use

I received an email from Cindy recently with a list of topics she thought would be good to address on my blog. The one I chose for today is an issue I am sure we have all come across during our decluttering efforts. This is one of those dilemma decluttering issues. Here is some examples Cindy had to share with us…

The trouble with owning something “too good to use”

  1. One on my friends started using her “good” dishes after hearing this story: A woman who had married a widower was using the good dishes of the previous, now deceased wife. She (the first wife) had never used the dishes, died without using them, as they were “too good.” The second wife decided she wasn’t going to let that happen to her.
  2. At our house, I have wine glasses that are too good to use. (All Gifts) I probably have 60 Waterford wine, champagne, water, sherry, even brandy crystal glasses. I HATE using them. They have to be hand washed and EVERY time we use them, one gets broken. At $75 each, I feel so angry at the person who broken them, which puts a damper on my party hosting. My solution? My Mom bought me a dozen plain, sturdy glasses from the restaurant supply store. The Waterford stays in the china cabinet where it looks pretty (I guess, if you’re into that kind of thing, and my husband is) and it’s behind glass doors, so it all stays clean. We look at the Waterford, and use the cheap glasses.
***************************
I have a couple of examples of this myself…
  1. When I was a little girl my godmother used to send me a china teacup and saucer for my birthday. I thought she meant for me to use them so I did. Years later she asked me about them and I told her they had all been broken over the years. She was very disappointed as she had expected me save them for when I was married I suppose. I made no apologies I liked them, I used them and they met their demise having been used for what they were intended. If I still had them now I may be sentimentally tied to them causing a decluttering dilemma.
  2. Like Cindy I have a china cabinet cluttered with a selection of crystal glasses that very rarely get used. The wine glasses have been used over the years but the port glasses and decanter are just a waste of space really. We tend to use the less expensive glasses instead. Most of the crystal pieces were wedding presents but luckily not from anyone who would know if I got rid of them.

Unfortunately for Cindy not only does her second example fall into the “too good to be used” category but they were also a gift from someone who would notice if they suddenly were no longer in her possession.  If it were me I think I would enjoy using them for what they were intended and let fate do it’s own decluttering.

That being said I have decided to practice what I preach and put  all the cheaper glasses I have aside for my children for when they leave home and just use the good ones in future. Should they get broken then c’est la vie.

I received this comment from Calico Ginger this morning after she read this post and I thought it worth adding in case people don’t read the comments.

Well, I say use the “good” stuff for these reasons:
1. we all need as much beauty in our lives as possible
2. if you have kids, it teaches them to be careful – if you only use plastic/cheap stuff they never learn that
3. every breakage is an opportunity to a) make do with less or b) replace with something even more beautiful.

ITEM 194 OF 365 LESS THINGS

More of my daughter’s childhood stuff she has decided she doesn’t need to keep

Bridget's Doll

Comments (35)

Day 192 Decluttering regrets

Willow asked me to explore with my readers whether there is anything that you have decluttered that you wish you hadn’t. She asked if I had such a story from my own experience.

This isn’t the first time this subject has come up for me and I have not addressed it before because I could not think of any time that I have thought “I wish I still had such and such”. Then it occurred to me that that is my answer.

No I have not encountered this problem yet.

Not in the last 192 days or for any other time over the years. I fully expect it might happen one day but of all the things I have decluttered over the years if this is the average for regret then I am not concerned if the demon eventually rears it’s ugly head.

As the saying goes there’s no point crying over spilt milk.

If you didn’t care about it when you gave it away then there is a good chance the desire to have it back shall also pass and in no time you won’t care again.

Please share with us in comments if you have a declutter regret story, we would love to hear about it.

My husband just reminded me that at one point years ago I convinced him to throw away some old letters from his cousin when they were younger. Personal stuff about what was going on in their lives at the time. Stuff that they could only talk to each other about. Unfortunately this beloved cousin died a couple of years ago when she was just 43 leaving behind two young girls and a new husband. That is the one thing he certainly regrets, it would be nice to have those letters to look back on now. So be careful with the really personal sentimental stuff, more importantly spend more time with the people you love because you just never know how long they will be in your life. I think that is the real regret here.

ITEM 192 OF 365 LESS THINGS

I may one day regret getting rid of this ironing arm but I bought it at a garage sale for next to nothing for one specific purpose. There is a type of shirt my husband wears once every blue moon that is a real b**** to iron because the sleeves have to be ironed with the crease up the side not on the top. I figure it will save me a lot of bother if on the rare occasion that he needs it I’ll just send it to the dry cleaners and let them deal with it. Problem solved and it will be well worth the money spent. Getting rid of it will free up a great deal of space in my inadequate laundry cupboard.

Ironning Sleeve

Comments (17)

Day 191 One area of doom half sorted

I think I mentioned some time back that one of the areas of doom when it comes to decluttering my house is my daughters bedroom. It is mostly awkward because for now she is living elsewhere while going to university so that adds a degree of difficulty I didn’t really want to deal with. It is not for me to decide what she wants to keep and I cannot be bothered sending long convoluted emails or wasting precious phone minutes to have her decide long distance.

Luckily for me she came to visit the week before last and I warned her ahead of time that she was going to have to help me do some decluttering in her bedroom while she was here. She actually took it all with good grace and complied willingly if not too enthusiastically. That is she just did it and didn’t complain. We didn’t get through everything but I was happy with the progress we made and the rest can wait until her next visit.

She had fun reminiscing over some of the items we found but willingly let them go. Others she kept and we put back where we found them for now. I must admit I just dumped all the stuff out in the garage and had not been out there to sort through the piles until yesterday. All the extra hours I have been doing at work have left me a little short on time since she left.  Some of the items went into the recycling bin and the rest will be donated to charity.

ITEM 191 OF 365 LESS THINGS

A pile of old papers and Rolling Stone magazines that she would not part with previously have finally found their way to the recycling bin. Hooray this was the stuff I really wanted to see go.

Bridget's Old Magazines

Comments (7)

Day 185 Unexpected decluttering

Imagine my surprise today when I went to put some clean laundry away in my son’s room and discovered he had decluttered one of his drawers. There was a big wad of shoe laces and other items in his trash can. I retrieved it of course and sorted it into donate and throw away piles but WOW!

If that isn’t amazing enough you will be surprised to know he had done this once before. I had just mentioned it today in a reply to a comment Loretta left on my Half way there post. At the end of high school last year he decluttered all the old school papers he no longer needed. There was no prompting from me he just did it. I think the inspiration was just to expel any evidence of a period of his life he would rather forget but that is another story.

I must remember to make a fuss about it and try to encourage him to start on another area of his room. I am sure there must be a number of clothing items hanging in the wardrobe that he no longer wears.

ITEM 185 OF 365 LESS THINGS

These are the items  my son decluttered that are going in the donation box (actually it is more of a donation pile at the moment I haven’t been to drop items off for a while). If you are wondering why so many shoe laces, he is a skateboarder and they go through a lot of shoes and the manufacturer usually supply more there one pair of laces with each pair.
Donated Shoe LacesLiam Misc Items

Comments (4)

Day 180 Sentimental clutter

The item that is being donated today is a sentimental item that is kind of sad to see go.  As you know our mission at the moment is to declutter any items in our home that are not being used and are unlikely to be used in the future. The fact that this item has been unused and hidden away in my camphor wood chest for several years deems it clutter.

It is the last hand crocheted item left in our home that was made by my husbands grandma. Our linen closet used to overflow with all the crocheted hand towels and face clothes that she made for us throughout our  married life. She has been gone for several years now and we have  plenty of fond memories of her. She was a lovely lady who had it pretty tough for much of her life and we will never forget her.

You may wonder why we would give away this last physical reminder of someone so loved. My answer to that is because it is only that a physical reminder. Whenever I see any hand crocheted item I always think of her so there are constant reminders everywhere. We will always remember her and she will always be near in our hearts. We do not need to keep items that may be more useful to someone else in order to remind us of the good time we had together.

ITEM 180 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Granny Rug

Comments (17)

Day 179 Accidental Declutter

The item I am decluttering today is a motorcycle jacket that has belonged to my husband since before we were married. He has not worn it for years. He had a set of motorcycle leathers made way back then as well and they became his protective clothing of choice.

This Jacket has become an example of natural progression decluttering purely by accident. When I say accident I mean it literally. I recently tagged along on one of my husbands business trips. We had no sooner reached our destination and had a bite of lunch when we received a call from our son. We had lost control of his motorbike during a rain squall and slid down the road. Luckily, he was not hurt.

After years of holding on to this jacket unused, my son finally gave it a new lease on life when he started to ride. Needless to say the jacket went sliding down the road with him but unlike him it did not come off unscathed. It is beyond repair and is going in the trash. Sadly or fortunately as fate would have it, we also still have the leather jacket my husband hasn’t used since 1994 so he can now use that one.

I regret that this post is a bit anti-productive when it come to setting an example for not keeping clutter unused for years on end. It is however the exception rather than the rule and it will not influence my attitude to clutter in general.

ITEM 179 OF 365 LESS THINGS

Bike Jacket

Comments (4)