Don't Be Wasteful | EP 39 | The Decluttering Club Podcast 

I used to keep all packaging with a view to reusing it. My kitchen drawers and cupboards were filled with boxes, bubble wrap and plastic bags. Thanks to Decluttering Club, I have got rid of two thirds of my bags, all but two boxes and all my bubble wrap. I now only collect small boxes a month or two before Christmas, when I use them for posting gifts. After New Year, any unused boxes go in the recycling. I am an environmental activist so it was hard for me to give myself permission to put things in the recycling without reusing them - this is a lifestyle choice I've made for 30+ years. But my health and home were suffering as a result, and something had to give. We talk a lot about 'sustainability' in environmentalism, but we also need to apply that to ourselves and our homes. Keeping everything in case it's useful isn't sustainable if it negatively impacts our health and our home. I recently had a discussion about this with another activist; we both had damp and mould problems in our homes, and had been hoarding cardboard for years, but it had got to the point where it was hard to store without it becoming mouldy, so we both gave each other permission to ditch it, and to not hoard it unless we had a specific project coming up in the very near future with a date set. It was so liberating! I don't feel so bad about getting rid of packaging if it's recyclable, and it actually encourages me not to buy too much in the first place. It's better to reduce consumption than reuse or recycle.

I loved this, and what I would say to the person who wants me to keep something because otherwise I'm being wasteful. I would say - great, here, it's all yours 😂

Great podcast. Loved the “cardboard god” comment. We are all different, we think different and act differently that is what makes us individuals. You are so right that keeping things you are not using and enjoying is more wasteful than throwing away boxes, cartons and bags. Keeping things to reuse later is great if you have the time, space and will in the near future actually use them. Due to financial reasons we save things and reuse things like plastic grocery bags, gift bags and tissue, plastic food containers, some packing materials and boxes breakable items are packaged in, but I limit how many I have and throw them away when they get bent, broken, or are no longer needed.

Makes perfect sense. I reuse some boxes for efficient storage otherwise I discard it. I'm in a downsizing mode. It feels great to release. There's a buy nothing FB group in my town that I donate much to. It's a pay it forward and keep out of landffill. We gift and ask for things we need before going to the store and buying it. I have released and received so much and blessed many people in the process. I prefer to share vs throw away so thus affords me an avenue to do so. You could give boxes away too. Someone always in n Ed of packing things and it saves them money on buying them. I find it very fulfilling and uplifting to share with my neighbors and friends.i enjoyed your video.

My Dad was brought up during the depression and he saved a lot of things. He became very angry if we threw away something that he thought would still be useful. After he passed away it was left up to the family to take care of everything. Out in the shed we found tons of tin coffee cans, broken furniture, boxes etc. under the house in the crawl space we found more stuff. I say please if you can use it by all means keep it. I also save some boxes and some bubble wrap for shipping. Why not reuse it....I don't want it to take up real-estate.

I now use all boxes, even from kcups, to pack my items I'm donating!

Just like my Mom would tell me to clean my plate because children in Africa are starving. But forcing myself to eat those last bites didn't alleviate their hunger.