I was sitting here this evening feeling really tired wanting to go to sleep but hadn’t decluttered anything or written today’s blog. I tried to think of something small I could tackle, and then I realised…

…I’d spent a good 20 minutes when I got home from work today (before I’d even taken my coat off) walking round the house with a black bin bag emptying the bins. This must count as decluttering because they were overflowing in some rooms.

What I failed to do was take another bag with me to collect the recycling at the same time, as those bins are only priority for next week (and every task I do both at work and at home is done by priority due to being a busy working mum).

There are bins in most rooms of this house, and I haven’t really got round to getting everyone else on board to put recycling in different containers (something I need to think about to make my life a bit easier). So, I go around with my rubber gloves on and have to sort each bin every time which takes a while. I also don’t do it as often as I should.

Room for Improvement

From now on, instead of waiting for ‘bin day’, I could go round the house every other day armed with two bags – one for actual rubbish and one for recycling (plastic bottles, cardboard, empty deodorant cans and so on). This way we won’t get an overflow situation like I witnessed in some rooms today, and I can put them straight in the bins outside. I think my stash of carrier bags that I found the other day can assist me with this. (Reference: How Many Carrier Bags Do I Actually Need?)

I just paused for a moment there to make a camomile tea and put something in the bin and I when I opened it, I had another idea, which is very obvious when I think about it. Our pull out bins in the kitchen have three sections.

I’ve always used the two sections on the left for normal rubbish as they filled up so quickly. Lately, the one at the back isn’t getting used, so I could be a bit smarter about using that for plastics, glass and aerosoles and get the family on board with that. The one on the right is perfect for paper which I could just carry to the recycling bin outside when it gets full.

I’m starting to get very passionate about recycling and want to get it right. Since the council changed the rules last year about what we can put in each bin, I feel that I’ve been doing a really good job. There’s always room for improvement though.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra