If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t quite get your home clean, you could be overlooking a problem that’s right in front of you — and all around you. It’s called clutter. People who live amid clutter sometimes get used to living that way. That may work for some, but it gets in the way of the down-and-dirty cleaning that’s necessary to get a home truly clean. Getting rid of clutter means a cleaner home, and if you’re devoted to preserving the natural environment, the good news is you can declutter your home without adding clutter to the environment.

Cleaning Tools

Of course, once you’ve decluttered the eco-friendly way, make sure you have the tools you need to keep your nice, orderly home clean. Make sure you have a good vacuum cleaner, one that’s lightweight and has plenty of attachments so you can reach easily into corners.

Dump the Dump

We’re all paying the price for generations of dumping old and unwanted items like mattresses, couches, and electrical appliances. Landfills are overflowing with such items, and more space is needed to accommodate more. Rather than burdening the environment with refuse, you can recycle it by taking your clutter to facilities that accept electronics and bedding items like mattresses. If that old dryer is still functional, why not drop it off at a local charity? Appliances can often be rehabbed and made useful again at homeless centers.

Digitize

It’s nice to have photo albums that the family can leaf through on special occasions and reminisce about the past. But photos can quickly become a clutter nuisance, especially if someone in the family is a notorious shutterbug. Rather than allowing them to pile up, take advantage of digital technology by scanning those old pictures and storing them in “the cloud.”

Clothing

Go ahead and admit it — you’re hanging onto pants that fit you three years ago, but which couldn’t possibly fit today. It’s natural to believe you’re just one diet away from having a 32-inch waist again and to hang onto old clothing for that reason. But if you look around the house with an objective eye, you’ll see accumulated clothing items, many of which you probably don’t even remember buying. That makes clothing a major contributor to clutter. Local charities would be glad to take it all off your hands. If your clothing items are in good condition, consider taking them to a consignment store or selling them in a garage or yard sale. It’s a responsible and eco-friendly thing to do, because cast-off clothing is a major problem in landfills.

“Green” Grocery Bags

Most of us take for granted that groceries come home in small plastic bags. They’re convenient, easy to carry, and make handy lunch bags, but they represent a tremendous threat to wildlife and they’re a major source of pollution. Break the plastic bag habit by switching to reusable grocery bags, made of eco-friendly cloth material. While you’re at it, ask someone at your local grocery if they have a place where you can dispose of plastic bags, which can be recycled.

Bathroom Clutter

Half-empty shampoo bottles, old hair brushes, and small mounds of disposable razors create a lot of clutter in the bathroom and add tremendously to landfill waste. Try switching to a reusable razor, and keep your shampoo in refillable containers so old bottles can be recycled.

Decluttering is a good way to protect and preserve your personal environment. Doing it in an eco-friendly manner is an excellent way to do your part in conserving our natural environment.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

Guest Author: Alice Robertson

Alice Robertson began her career in the home organization industry as a professional house cleaner. After cleaning and organizing her clients’ homes for years, she decided to open her own home organization business. Over the years, she has built an impressive client list, helping to make spaces in homes and businesses more functional. She recently created tidyhome.info as a place to share the great cleaning and organizing advice she has developed over the years.