Just after I started this website, I agreed to move into another house nearer my parents and other family members.
Here is one task. You would be right if you guessed that I was not able to go through everything so thoroughly throughout this first move. But then I had a second try! See the second move to see how much stuff I still had to get rid of!
Can I move while doing the Zero Waste Home? daunting, but kind of brilliant. I can really minimize so I don’t have to move so much stuff. I have given myself a couple of months.
How to do this without getting too focused on the minutiae?
- Be focused, finish what you started every day.
- Don’t let yourself get sidetracked by your deadline. Do the job right.
For instance, I had a few binders full of product manuals for large and small appliances all over the house. I was very tempted to abandon the project midway through. So many manuals from things we’ve had in the past and some that are no longer here.
Here are a few of the things I saved and threw away:
- appliances we no longer have – throw away, duh
- appliances that are installed in the house stays with the house
- smaller appliances that I will take with me go in a separate binder
- eliminate all the papers that are not helpful such as in languages other than English, or marketing information for other products.
- if the guarantee has expired, it is probably OK to throw away the manual on the juicer or the coffee maker for instance.
- also, place some of the manuals with the item instead of in the binder where you will forget you have it.
Such a boring task, although satisfying when completed.
Now I have two binders.
If I can go through my stuff and have it all organized, I will be a happy camper and well on my way to doing the ‘Reduce’ part of Zero Waste Home.
I honestly can’t wait to get rid of so much stuff and make my move very low effort.
Zero Waste Home Concepts Used: Recycle (papers from old manuals), Reduce (got rid of old unused stuff)
Zero Waste Home Next Time: get used appliances and refuse the manuals which you can always read online.
Job Satisfaction Rating: great to see the binders neatly sitting on the shelf
Whole Bunch of Projects 