What’s your favorite tip/resource to practice responsible decluttering? P.S. Please keep in mind that decluttering responsibly isn’t about perfection. Do your best to dispose of items in a way that doesn’t cause unnecessary waste, but give yourself grace that it doesn’t need to be perfect. Strive for progress, not perfection. 🤍
My fav tip is to do the hard work right from the beginning. Once you start your decluttering journey try to sell or give away as many of the decluttered items as possible. This will give you a sense of what the cost is of trying to get rid of an item (cost = time and energy) and this will help to prevent you from bringing unneeded items home in the future. Too many people are just mindlessly donating the decluttered items. It's a waste of a learning opportunity and quite often they get stuck in a cycle of buying more then decluttering again and again. I understand it can be a lot in the beginning but if you put in the work you will benefit from it later
I love to post things for sale on FB Marketplace. I'm retired and generally have the time to spend getting them ready and also waiting. That's my first choice and I don't mind posting things for even a couple of dollars. Over the last 4-5 months, I have sold over $400 dollars worth of items this way. It never seems like much at the time, but it definitely adds up. I will also post free items on FB marketplace as well. For books, I generally start with a local used book store. If he won't buy them they usually end up in a Little Free Library.
My tip is to be realistic about the price you can get for an item Vs the time to sell (and what it's actually costing you in space and mental health), give yourself a timeline for selling anything, and once it exceeds that timeline accept that may you need to gift or donate it, and be at peace with the fact that the money and time it has already cost you is gone and there's nothing you can do about it except try to be more mindful of purchases/what enters your home in the future
Not always so easy. For example. Not finding things in the shops I searched the internet. Still not convinced I bought in several before getting what I wanted. The problem is then reselling what did not work out. That turned out harder than I thought. It is okay if you have a return policy - usually with new items for from a shop - but I had to test them out and so they are used items and usually get less than the original price and by comparison I may have to include postage costs on finding a buyer and so get even less return. In this case second hand can be more expensive than when getting new.
This video was very helpful for ideas on where to donate things. The main thing I donate is books, and usually I donate them to the Library; but recently they have stopped accepting donations because our county cooperative has been remodeling the buildings.
This video is much needed, thank you for that!! So many people just focus on telling people which things to declutter, but don't advice what to do with the stuff after you've decided to let go of them. I think it's so so important to do the decluttering process sustainably; if you've bought the item and had it for years, there definitely shouldn't be that big of a hurry to get rid of the stuff that you wouldn't be able to find them a new home
Hi!!! I loved your ideas!!! As a person worried about sustainability, I think your video is fantastic to help people now that decluttering is soooo trendy!! Thanks for sharing!!!
This is the best! I had no idea Best Buy recycled batteries! I've been paying a small fee to dispose of mine properly. Thanks for another great video. 👍
I've tried selling and giving for free on Facebook with limited results. I mostly donate to charity shops now as it's less hassle. As long as the items are still in good condition.
I try my hardest not to throw anything in the trash, but I definitely do not pass on anything that is beyond repair! Your walkthrough was valuable and the hierarchy helps with minimizing waste
I find that donating is my go-to option for most of what I declutter simply because the item(s) don't have a lot of value to begin with. Though recently, I decided to ask my sister is she wants a wireless charger for Samsung phones because I haven't used it in over a month. It's always fun to re-gift things to people, especially if they know they'll use it :)
In the past I have been given items that I really didn’t want or ask for but I politely took them because they were given in kindness. Yes, please make doubly sure the recipient actually wants the item(s) before offering them.
This was so helpful! I'm so thankful for your channel. It's really helping me to stop my consumerism and work towards a more simple and content lifestyle. Merry Christmas, Ashlynne!
I love your ideas of responsibly decluttering! Not sure where you live but staples and terracycle have recycling programs for used pens, markers etc. Also those paintbrushes look great compared to ones used in the public sector like schools would love them, not sure if they could be donated now with covid but worth a shot.
This isn't an option for everyone, but I have a zero waste shop near me that takes jar and fabric donations as well. That's another great place to donate if available
Thanks for sharing, I personally always follow the same process you mentioned when decluttering, but I have seen many people just putting everything in the trash. Also, fun fact, when you showed the labels I was thinking I have the same ones and I do like them, can I have yours? Haha Maybe someone is like me so it might be worth asking around if anyone wants them
I was decluttering my closet when I received the notification of this video. I literally just put those clothes I am getting rid off in a bag so I can see what I can sell and what I can gift. Right now is really hard to find a place where they take donation because of Covid. But if I can’t either sell, gift or donate I will have to trash it. A great app I use to sell things is Mercari. Thanks for another great vid! 💖
Oh wow, that’s amazing! One tip if donating isn’t an option in your area right now is that you can list things for free on sites like Facebook marketplace and people will gladly take it! So before throwing things out, I would definitely give that a try if anything doesn’t sell 🥰🤍
I love donating to thrift stores! Then I feel good about browsing there afterwards 😉 I love to give things to people but need to do what you suggest and make sure they want the item first!
This process also informs your future purchases. We think of the resale value of cars and houses, but we don't think this way about our everyday items. This would put fast fashion out of business...
I like the idea of laying out everything you declutter and sorting it into piles for its next destination. Sometimes I try to only handle things once (declutter, list on eBay/Marketplace, and box up before moving on to the next item), but that tends to take a lot more mental focus than a speed declutter requires (and "focus" is hard to summon up after a day of work!). I bet your method would be a lot more efficient for me!
Absolutely! I find it a lot easier to decide what to let go out then after that decide how to best get rid of it. It really allows you to focus all your brain power on just the one task at hand 🥰🤍
For the paintbrushes (even used ones), maybe there’s a local art class you can give them to. I went to an art school and we used to leave our old brushes in class for people to use if they forgot their brushes. Usually they were pretty used but they are perfect for techniques were you otherwise ruin good brushes (like mod podge)
I love the pyramid! It makes me crazy when people throw things away that are definitely reusable, but they're too lazy or ignorant to take them to a proper location.
For gift bags that are too ugly to use but can still hold things, use it as a doggie poo bag when you walk your dog or cut it into pieces to make a collage from. Or just ask one one that doesn’t mind getting it’d in an ugly bag :) the more use it gets the better!
These tips are very good but just be aware that most women's shelters only want new things now because of Covid. Also, as you mentioned, selling is time consuming and everyone has to know their limitations and if they would actually follow through.
some cities and counties have recycling centers where miscellaneous things can be recycled, including textiles, electronics, old kitchenware, ceramic, plastics that can't go into single-stream like grocery bags and ziploc bags, etc.!
I’m honestly struggling with what to do with all the clothes I’ve decluttered over the past month. I have about two laundry baskets full and they’re all in great shape so I’m not sure if selling to a consignment shop would be a good idea/worth. I would try to sell on like poshmark or somewhere similar, but I just do not have the time.. any suggestions?
I like to do clothes swap parties with my friends with clothes like that! Friends, family, even neighbors. I worked in a designer & vintage consignment boutique last year (pre-covid) as a side gig and can tell you in general clothes have a really low resale value. most consignment stores will give you half, or less, of the price sold too. Is your top worth at least 10 dollars? ie: is it made of silk, wool or cotton? Most plastic clothing, even designer, will not hold up well until it finds a new home and its value will decrease rapidly as well.
I've been listening to your videos while on-the-go or doing chores, and it's been lovely. You might want to expand to podcast world? Deffo will subscribe as well!
Hi Ashlynne, great video! I have a local WhatsApp giveaway group that I started involving reliable Facebook giveaway people. I also donate to Traid, who resell good condition clothes, books, homewares and new bedding in their charity shops. I am also beginning to ask myself before I buy, 'Do I really love this? Will I use it? Where will it live? How can I eventually get rid of it?' The last question in particular is so useful as it's such a pain in the bum to dispose of things that when I think of that, it deters me from purchasing!! I hope you are well and have a wonderful Christmas! ⛪🌌📑🎄🎁🎉 x
There are also places like Half Price Books where they will buy your used books, games, music, movies, and sometimes collectibles and wall art. You do not make much money doing this but it is a minor step up from donating and you can be sure they will not be thrown in a landfill.
We did this and sadly they were very very picky with the books they kept. The rest were going to be recycled----WHAT???? It was my boyfriends parents books who read a lot so they had a massive amount of books that were in excellent shape and good reading books. Sadly I didn't speak up and say.....give them back to me what you are going to recycle because there are other places that can use them such as libraries for selling, nursing homes, jails/prisons, etc etc. I was NOT impressed with Half Price Books. Of course they didn't give you any money for what they were going to recycle. I seriously should have spoken up and taken those books back. Otherwise, yes, they are a place to try to sell to and yes, you get very little money for them.
Donations are tricky in 2020 I've been decluttering throughout lockdown and have come to find that a lot of organizations have suspended their donation programs due to Covid concerns.
I have a wool sweater that shrank to about the size that an 8 year old would wear when my boyfriend accidentally put it into the washing machine. I'm not sure what to do with it because it likely wouldn't be used by someone else if I donated it.
If you take your sweater to the dry cleaner they might be able to stretch it back to the original shape! I did that last with a couple sweaters and it was amazing what they were able to do!! 🤍
If the item is in top condition I donate it to the kmart charity xmas tree. The charity decides who gets thst item. Other times of the year it goes to the local salvation army charity store
What I like to do with items that are not worth the time cost of selling or thinge that I could not sell on a marketplace is to put a „gift box“ in front of our house. Most of the things will be gone in a day or two and only the rest will go to the trash.
