How to Make Your New Year Clear-out More Eco-Friendly

The New Year has swung around once again and although the festive season has perhaps been a little bit different for many of us, no doubt one thing has remained the same and that is that our houses are fit to burst. No doubt the Christmas decorations have come down but the house is chock full of clutter. You know that this can only mean one thing - it's time for a post-Christmas clear-out.

While January is the ideal time to begin sorting through your possessions, no doubt while rooting through every room in your house – it's easy to forget the negative impact that home detoxes can have on our environment (a whopping 10 million household items are sent to landfill annually).

With this in mind, how can we tidy our homes without adding to this unnecessary waste? Here we outline to you the various ways that you can ensure your household clear-out is as eco-friendly as possible.

Where to Start  

Most of us will likely accumulate plenty of bits over time. But when these items start to take over, it’s often referred to as “clutter”. When your home is packed full of clutter, it can impact your mental state and in turn, make you feel stressed. As well as this, it can cause you to lose important items. Think about all the time you spend looking for things because of clutter. Clutter not only makes it more difficult to clean, too, and can even impact your ability to get a good night’s sleep.

The idea of clearing out the clutter from every room of the home is of course a bit daunting, but at the same time, something that many of us have to face. About decluttering though, doing it in an eco-friendly manner will ensure that you feel much better about both your home and the environment. Decluttering with the environment in mind means that you can help to avoid sending your items to the landfill while also creating much less waste.

Declutter Room to Room 

If the prospect of cleaning and decluttering your entire home seems a bit overwhelming, set yourself tiny goals each day. Start in one room, then focus on one area, working your way around the whole space as you go. If a room feels too big of a task, begin with something much smaller, for example, a closet or even a drawer. As well as breaking down your decluttering into manageable tasks, it’s also a smart move to set out a plan on paper with regards to a schedule that you can keep with. 

Now you have a plan of action, let’s think about a few of the specific areas that you can focus on decluttering in an environmentally-friendly way.

Recycle Any Old Electronic Items 

We all have a drawer that’s packed with old electronics that may come in handy someday. Let's be real here, will you use these old devices again? Not likely. So either list your ancient electronics online, donate them to a charity shop if they’re working well and safe to use or drop them off at an electronics recycling centre.

Old Clothes

Plenty of us are certainly guilty of keeping a wardrobe, drawers, or storage bins packed with old clothes and we keep them just in case they come back into fashion, or for when we lose or gain a few pounds.

Being realistic, the likelihood is that these items we are hoarding won’t be used again. Chucking out these old items is a good way to free up some space in your wardrobes, not to mention provide those who are less fortunate and need new clothes with an affordable option.

Reusable Shopping Bags 

Your reusable bags are meant to be used over again, so do it! So, if your local grocery store offers a place to recycle your old plastic bags take advantage of this. Ensure that you stock up on reusable eco-friendly cloth bags for the future.

Books, DVDs, and CDs 

If you’ve got loads of old books that you haven’t read, DVDs that you never watch, or CDs that you don’t use anymore - donate these to charity so that others can get something out of them, after all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! You can also donate these to local libraries, learning facilities, schools, or even just sell them online.

Toiletries 

This is perhaps one area where we can all improve in. Have a look in anyone’s bathroom, there will likely be loads of half-empty shampoo bottles cluttering it up. Taking this into consideration, why not try making your own beauty products that will lower waste, as well as keep any harmful chemicals away from yourself? In this manner, you will know exactly what’s going into your products, and you can also put them in reusable containers, significantly reducing packaging and plastic bottle use. There is a wealth of information online about creating your own natural products.

Other ideas include mixing these products (without crushing them) with an unpleasant substance, such as cat litter, dirt, or coffee grinds and putting them in a sealable bag and discarding them in the waste bin.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 

You've probably heard these three words used together a lot. Recycling is a simple way to reduce waste, but it isn't just limited to cans and plastics. Textiles and clothing items around the home that aren’t suitable to be passed on to someone else or resold can be often recycled too. An example being, padding from old chairs or car seats, cleaning cloths and old blankets are perfectly suitable for recycling and in doing so, we limit the amount of unnecessary waste tossed into landfill.

Getting into the habit of decluttering can be difficult, especially if you are new to it. However, it's a great way to kickstart the new year and the benefits are immense, as you will enable yourself to live a lower impact lifestyle, to form better shopping habits, and to buy less in general.

W M Thompson & Sons - Use a Sustainable Landfill site for any Waste

Here at W M Thompson & Sons, we understand that inevitably, some waste needs to end up in a landfill for a range of reasons including safety factors. Nevertheless, we aim to be as responsible and sustainable as possible, efficiently separating any materials at our recycling centre that we can reuse. Wherever we encounter non-recyclable waste, we dispose of it safely and correctly.

We work closely with the following agencies to ensure that we conform to all current regulations and avoid having a negative environmental impact. As well as this, our landfill site – situated in a former quarry – is fully S.E.P.A. licensed and dedicated to maintaining a positive impact on the local landscape and environment. Whatever your waste removal or landfill needs, get in contact with us today, we’d be delighted to help with any enquiries you may have regarding our waste services. Or, feel free to browse through our website for any further information you may require.