Friday will continue with my series on my new favorite book, Switch, which I have been writing about for a couple of weeks now.
Earth Day is Thursday, April 22!
Organizing exposes a lot of waste in our own personal environments. People are often amazed at the numbers of garbage bags we throw out, the height of the donation piles, and the massive amounts of paper that we need to discard as we do organizing projects. Let's make sure we take care of this waste properly in consideration of the environment!
1) Please don't throw poison away in your household trash! Look it up on www.earth911.com to find out the nearest hazardous waste disposal option for your area. Paint, batteries, gardening chemicals, automotive chemicals, and other household items like cleaners do not belong in our landfill (and therefore our water supply, etc!).
2) Donate as much as you can. Did you know that the average American throws away 54 pounds of clothing and shoes a year (into the landfill!)? (statistic from @GoodwillKY) This blogger wrote a wonderful photo essay of what happens to clothing at the Goodwill San Francisco facility–it's really worth reading. Goodwill does a fantastic job of not only helping the environment by processing these donations, but also helping our economy at the same time by helping to place people in jobs. Goodwill has a donation site locator here so you can find the most convenient drop-off location (please make sure you're dropping off at a legitimate donation site and not a random box in a parking lot that may be "for profit" and not "for real.")
3) Recycle. I am appalled at the amount of paper I have thrown out with clients over my ten-year career as an organizer, before I became more aware of recycling and it became normal to discuss with clients. Recycle whatever you can– plastic, paper, cans, glass, steel– whatever is accepted in your area. If you are doing an organizing project, the volume you'll uncover will probably even make it worth hauling it somewhere if you don't have curbside pickup.
On a final note, if you have not seen the magnificent Hubble 3D movie at the IMAX theaters, I really hope you can see it soon. It is humbling and inspiring, and I have rarely felt so proud of the human race for accomplishing this incredible window into our universe. And seeing our Earth from that vantage point makes you realize even more how much we need to protect this rare and valuable jewel, our home. (And I am kind of a space exploration nerd– I have utmost respect and admiration for the astronauts and engineers that make it all possible…)
Talk to you soon, after NAPO conference!
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I LOVE this article.
I was shocked to hear that so many people just throw old clothing away. We always give things away unless they’re badly damaged.
We love the Goodwill, but we also love our local church and give clothing and other items there, as well.
Thank you for sharing this awesome information. Although recycling is not available in all areas, there are definitely agencies that happily accept donations.
Donated items get used!!! Throwing away clothing and shoes into the landfill is sad, because it only takes a quick stop while running errands to donate them.
I can personally say, that if it weren’t for hand me downs or donated items I may not have had much to wear as a child when budgeting for 6 kids was tough.
There should be more articles like this one on the web. Very well written, I enjoyed reading it. Greetings