Minimalism and Donating Responsibly

It’s January and that gives us all that New Year, new you feeling. I’m on a de-clutter mission around our house, (I’m always on one of these lately but it’s turned up a gear in January).

I’ve worrying about the many trends at the moment, Marie Kondo included, that encourage us to rid our lives of clutter for a more minimal, simple existent that will make us all happier.

Hey, I’m not knocking this. I’m one of the ones telling you how a more minimal life can benefit you in so many ways and I love the Kon Marie method. I believe that by having less it not only makes the shelves easier to dust but it teaches us what we really need, what is really important to us. In theory this will help us buy less in the future and therefore need to de-clutter less. It helps us move away from fast fashion, fast interiors and anything else fast that’s polluting our planet in such a catastrophic way.

My worry comes from “what happens when we send all those things that no longer “spark joy” away?”

Some things really are crap that just have to go to in the bin. I’ve struggled with this at first, holding on to things because people aren’t going to buy an old badge but let’s face it, it will end up in landfill one day weather I put it there now or in 10 years time. What I have to do is learn from it and make sure these things don’t come into the house in future.

Some things can be recycled and it’s always worth tapping into google what it is and if there’s a scheme you can drop it off to.

Then there’s the clothes you decided you know longer want in your wardrobe because you’ve just read my article on “Why we all need a Capsule Wardrobe”. Well you just donate all those to charity right? Easy peasy?

Well maybe not.

There are two problems here. Number one. We are all donate so much that charities can’t always cope with the huge amount turning up on their door step. Number two, because of the nature of fast fashion and poorly made cheap clothes, they are not always in a good enough condition to resell.

So how do we get rid of our clothes and other possession responsibly?

a drawer with clothes folded in the kon marie method

Sell it your decluttered items.

Is it is a great condition? Why not try and sell on your clothes. Depop and eBay make it super simple. I know it can be time consuming so use your time wisely. While your de-cluttering take a quick picture. Then later on when you have a spare minute, list it. Literally while you queuing at the post office, waiting for you kid to use to loo, waiting for the kettle to boil. List it. You might make a little bit of pocket money too.

Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle.

If the item of clothing isn’t in good condition can you reuse it first? Cut it up into rags to use for cleaning? Make them into cloth wipes? If not then drop it to a local textiles recycling point. Most supermarkets have them.

Remember these same rules apply for anything not just clothing. Electronics, ornaments, toys, pictures. You name it, it could have another life by reselling re-purposing and if not recycling.

a simple minimal bathroom after decluttering

Give away your decluttered items.

If you are going to dump it, it’s always worth first adding it to free-cycle or taking it to your local tip and offering it to the shop there. It’s amazing what they will sell and what people will be interested in that they can reuse or up-cycle.

Donate Responsibly.

If you are going to donate to a charity shop look out for places that are looking for donations. Charities shops often have a sign in the window if they need stock. Take whatever it is in and ask if they would like it. If not take it away again and try to get rid of it responsible following the steps above, otherwise it will end up going straight to landfill.

Don’t let the idea of where your things will end up spot you striving for minimalism.

Now please, don’t let this put you off that de-clutter, or stop you striving for a minimalist wardrobe. The fact is, our whole lives we have been taught that more is better. We stop seeing the sheer amount of stuff around us when we are constantly looking for the next thing. The new product, latest fad we need to make our lives better when actually we are surrounded by more than we could ever need. The less we have, the more we are used to space and simplicity, the more we value the things we do decide to let into our homes. This can only be a good thing.