Tip of the Week: Keep, Sell, Toss

Tip of the Week is a feature where I will share one easy step per week that you can try out that will help you on your way to a more sustainable life. Small steps lead to big changes!

I used to watch this show called "Clean Sweep" in which participants invite a group of organizers and designers into their home to help them organize two rooms. Basically, the organizers share tips and tools throughout the program that help anyone organize their "stuff" into three separate categories. The Keep category is obviously where all the items the family believes they want to keep, the Sell category is where items that will be sold at a garage or yard sale will go, and the Toss pile is stuff that no one wants. 

I am a college student for about the next 4 weeks and because I have spent the last four years of my life travelling back and forth between two homes, I have accumulated a ton of stuff! Kitchen stuff, art supplies from various classes I took for my major, random things that had sentimental value, and lots of stuff that other people were going to throw away that I rescued. I'm not a hoarder, I just happen to own a lot of things and haven't had the time to downsize. 

Because I would love to live and work in another state in the near future, it is important and necessary for me to downsize because I will be transporting my "stuff" with me. I have also found that it can be quite sustainable to go through your belongings because it allows you to make a mental inventory of your "stuff" and really decide what is necessary. I've also been a thrift shopper my whole life (I love it!), and if it weren't for the people that donate their unloved possessions, I wouldn't have the majority of my wardrobe, most of my kitchen supplies, my chair, pillows, tea pot, bowls... the list goes on and on. 

If I haven't convinced you yet to go through your belongings and appreciate what you have, this comedy segment by the late great George Carlin might make you reconsider!