Category: Organising

I know you want to be organised at home but you also want to do your bit to reduce your household’s impact on the environment. There are so many things we ‘should’ or ‘could’ be doing, but the practicalities can be difficult to manage when also juggling the demands of daily family life.

Clutter can soon build up when we want to dispose, recycle and donate items in an environmentally responsible way, but are unable to find manageable methods. Common barriers to organising our homes include;

• where to give away quality items that we no longer need or love;
• how to recycle the numerous items that aren’t accepted in curb-side collections;
• and what to do with things that could be repurposed, such as the postage packaging that enters our homes on a regular basis.

We want to avoid saving things that ‘could potentially’ be re-purposed, repaired, recycled in future. Whilst good-intentioned, this approach clutters up our home and the items will be wasted anyway.

The good news is, it is possible to organise our home to be a little more eco-friendly. We need to be intentional about what we want to do to make our household eco-friendly, considerate of what we can reasonably manage; and take some action, no matter how small it may feel.

How Can I Make a Difference to the Environment?

It’s not easy to manage the competing demands of an environmentally responsible lifestyle with your household needs. I’m not suggesting that you should recycle at all costs to your home, time, stress levels. It’s a balance, and you don’t have to be perfect to make a differences. Every little thing you can do to reduce the impact of your household on the environment is a good thing.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. – Theodore Roosevelt

Your family, lifestyle and energy will change over time so you can adapt your approach as things ebb and flow. Think about what you can realistically manage in this phase and put in place arrangements to allow you to manage it as effortlessly as possible.

How Can I be Organised and Eco Friendly at Home?

When we decided to be as eco-friendly as possible in our house, we had to decide what we could manage. For a while we collected mini baby bel wrappers in the hope that we could recycle them, but it was too difficult to find a local outlet for them. Now our compromise is to recycle the film part with soft plastics.

It took some thought and planning to work out how to store the things we are able to recycle/re-purpose. To make it easy for you, I’m sharing my quick environmentally friendly home organising ideas to implement in your home for this Earth Day.

Simplify Household Management:

• Reduce food packaging – buy fruit, veg, meats and fish from your local shops or ‘Too Good to Waste’ boxes from Lidl. These often come with little or no packaging. If this is not practical for your household, you might like to try a veg box delivery service such as OddBox or buy or save food items using the Olio app
• Recycle Food packaging – If you struggle to wash your food packaging for recycling; pop it in the dishwasher when you do a load. It might shrink a little, but it will come out clean and ready to go into the recycling bin. *
• Soft plastics – place a bin or bag in the kitchen to capture films, bags and other soft plastics. When full, pop into your shopping bag ready to drop at the supermarket
• Paper, cardboard, plastics, tins – Place small recycling bins next to waste bins in the kitchen, bathroom and where ever you open post. This will help you to separate recycling at source and you can then easily pop them in your wheelie bin for curb-side collection
• Share postage packaging – boxes, bubble wrap and other packaging can be re-used but you may not have the need or space to store it. Check Packshare to find local small businesses who can re-use your packaging
• Contact lenses and packaging – if your household use contact lenses you’ll know it can generate a lot of waste. Keep a small bin in the bathroom for contact lense waste and drop at your local opticians store or post to Vision Direct
• Glass – have a glass recycling bin in the kitchen or a container outside in a shed/garage to store until curb-side collection day
• Old batteries – keep a glass or plastic food container for old batteries (tape the ends of ensure that batteries can’t touch ends and cause sparks). Drop these off at local shops offering recycling or at your local household recycling centre
• Bathroom products – Designate a container to store old toothpaste tubes, and toiletries and makeup packaging, and when full drop off at your local supermarket or Boots recycling point (you can even sign up to receive Boots Ad Card points when you recycle)
• Medicine blister packs – if you use medicines and vitamins, designate a box or bag for empty packs and drop-off at your local Boots or Superdrug pharmacy for recycling
• Other household items – check the Terracycle website to find local recycling points for other items you might recycle

Eco-friendly Decluttering:

Remember, when decluttering, you want to remove items from your home within a day of doing your declutter, if you can. If not, schedule a date and time to move them on soon. You don’t want your decluttered items to become clutter by hanging around your home or car boot for months.

Decluttering Clothes:

• Clothes donations/sharing – Donate at charity shops, clothing schemes such as Sharewear, a local clothing bank if out of hours, or use websites such as Freecycle, Freegle, Facebook marketplace or Olio to share items locally for free
• Textile recycling – charities can sell damaged items as rags. Label these and drop at a charity shop or household recycling centre
• Items to sell – this has to be worth your while (do a search to check for high value, in-demand items), take photos immediately and diarise a deadline by which you will donate if not sold. Find a temporary home for these items whilst they are up for sale so that they don’t clutter your home

Decluttering Linens and Towels:

• Bedlinen – can be donated or recycled as per clothes above
• Blankets and towels – can be donated or recycled as above. Also vets, animal shelters and pet groomers often accept old towels and/or blankets
• Pillows and duvets – Dunelm’s Textile take-back scheme accepts pillows and duvets

Decluttering Electricals, metals and cables:

• Donate old computers, printers, tablets – search online for schemes that can refurbish and distribute old equipment to schools in the UK or abroad. Ensure that you remove old personal data from your machines before passing them on
• Games consoles and games – companies that resell these include Computer Exchange, Ziffit and Music Magpie. Check their websites to see if yours is accepted
• Old mobile phones – some old mobile phones can be sold to the above companies (remember to remove your old personal data). Alternatively household recycling centres will take old tech and break them down into their component materials
• Metals, electricals, cables, old tech – keep a jar or box in a cupboard to gather together bits and bobs for the household recycling centre. Factory reset, and/or remove and smash up computer hard drives to remove any personal data.

Damaged Items:

• Broken jewellery, clothes, electricals, etc – your local repair café may be able to help repair items and prolong their life – find out about Beeston Repair Café here, check Eventbrite or your local news

How Can Storage be Eco-friendly?

• Re-use containers you have at home – for example old food containers are great as first aid boxes, for handy DIY tools or stationary equipment. Shoe boxes make great drawer dividers for underwear
• Re-purpose boxes – mobile phone boxes and small packaging are great to help keep drawers tidy and stop contents flying around
• Buy storage for a specific purpose and choose quality that will last. Wait until you have decluttered an area and understand what you need to store and the space you want to organise, rather than buying storage before you start. Ensure you measure the space and the items you intend to store so that the area is fit for purpose and lasts.

If you’d like advice to organise your home to support your household whilst reducing your environmental impact, I’m here to help.

Find out more about OrganisedWell Home Organising Services here.

FAQS

How can I declutter my home in an environmentally friendly way?
To declutter your home in an environmentally friendly way, sort unwanted items into donate, sell, recycle, repair and reuse. This helps you reduce waste and makes it easier to move things on responsibly. Charity shops, local sharing groups, repair cafés and household recycling centres can all be useful. Try to move decluttered items out of your home quickly so they do not become clutter again.

How can I be more eco-friendly at home without making life harder?
The easiest way to be more eco-friendly at home is to keep things simple. Choose a few realistic habits that fit your household, such as reusing containers, setting up easy recycling systems and collecting soft plastics in one place. You do not need to do everything perfectly. Small changes that are easy to maintain often work best over time.

What is the best way to organise recycling at home?
The best way to organise recycling at home is to make it easy to sort items where they naturally build up. Small bins, bags or containers in places such as the kitchen, bathroom and utility area can help. You may also want a separate box for harder-to-recycle items such as batteries, beauty packaging and medicine blister packs. A simple system makes recycling easier for the whole family to keep up with.

What should I do with items I want to declutter but do not want to waste?
If you want to declutter without wasting useful items, give each item a clear next step. You might donate it, sell it, pass it on locally, repair it or take it to a recycling point. The most important thing is not to let it sit in your home for too long. Setting a deadline can help you move things on and keep your progress going.

Can storage be eco-friendly?
Yes, storage can be eco-friendly when you use what you already have and buy thoughtfully. Reusing shoe boxes, jars, food containers and small boxes can work well for simple home organisation. If you do need to buy storage, wait until you have decluttered first so you can choose practical storage that fits your space, suits your needs and will last.