Repairing vs. upgrading
Five years ago, I moved into a carpeted apartment and found that the previous tenant had left her vacuum behind. I thought that it was brilliant of her to leave it, as I didn’t own … Continue reading
Category Archives: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
green organizing
Get Informed and Stay Motivated
I’m always looking out for opportunities to donate or recycle: food drives, seasonal clothing drives, cell phone drop-off boxes, book drop-offs, plastic bag recycling and so forth. I keep my eyes open around town, and … Continue reading
The upside of breaking things
Years ago I took a ceramics wheel-throwing class and made many pottery bowls in different sizes. I didn’t have space to display all of them and, as you all know, I try to keep things … Continue reading
A gift, not a regift
Last month I was given a beautiful set of scented hand creams as a holiday gift. I’m allergic to perfume, so there was no way I could use it. In almost every post on this … Continue reading
Reusing store bags
I saw an article by Deborah L. Shelton in the Chicago Tribune about the writer’s love-hate relationship with stuff. She mentioned how in the process of moving, she freaked out when she saw how many … Continue reading
Holidays are over; now what?
Now that the holidays are over, or soon will be, the festive decorations hanging around in your home or outside will need to be put away. No matter how big or small, putting decorations away … Continue reading
Clothing from babies to toddlers
Elena, whose son is almost two, called me for help organizing his bedroom. When I walked into the room, I saw four huge bins filled with baby clothes that Elena’s friends and sisters had handed … Continue reading
Free pick up service!
When I was growing up, my mom always seemed to have one or two big garbage bags full of things we no longer used waiting in the basement until a local non-profit organization came to … Continue reading
Turning Unused Cell Phones to Good Use Again
I recently helped Melissa* go through her office space and discovered that she had four old cell phones she no longer used after upgrading a few times. She had forgotten she still had them and … Continue reading
Tackling the basement
From J. and M. Chicago, IL: After construction on our home, we had a new, expanded kitchen and family room, as well as an expanded basement. The basement became the repository for boxes of “stuff” … Continue reading