Spring is a great time to clean out your home, garage and yard to rid yourself of the clutter that has piled up over the year or years. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, so Green Coast Rubbish has prepared 5 Spring Cleaning Tips to get you started:
1) Set aside time – When you are planning a big spring clean, you are going to need time to do it so you don’t feel pressured. Set aside a weekend to get started and be prepared to spend additional chunks of time in the coming weeks if you need it. It’s tough to do everything in one day so don’t even try.
2) Sort items by category – Marie Kondo has turned decluttering into an art form with her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The KonMari method recommends tackling decluttering by category. For example, to clean out your closet, gather all of your clothes in one room, sort all your tops, bottoms, dresses, socks, accessories and so on into piles on the floor so you can see everything in one place. Within each subcategory – let’s start with tops – hold each sweater or shirt in your hand and decide it it brings you joy and/or if it is something you would like to wear again next season. The goal is to end up with a closet full of items that you love to wear. The principle of sorting by category is something you can adapt for your whole spring clean, inside or out. Sort your stuff into manageable categories, keep only your favourite and most useful items and then it’s time to get creative with the stuff you want to get rid off.
3) Sell it – Why not make some money from your old stuff? Ways to sell it: hold a garage sale, get a swap meet table at your local school, church or kids swap meet, post on Craigslist, try a consignment or antique store.
4) Donate it – Your local thrift store is a great place to donate small household items such as clothes and books. Check with each location to see what they will accept. We like thrift stores because they are non profit and raise money for the community. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore accepts a wider variety of new or gently used items such as furniture, appliances, tools, bathroom, kitchens, and building supplies.
5) Recycle it – You might have to do some mental gymnastics to figure out where to recycle your old stuff. Got a stack of old paint cans? Electronics? Lumber? Propane tanks? An old mattress? Here is the answer to that conundrum. Download the BC Recyclepedia Mobile App on your phone and do a search to find out where each item goes. If you can’t figure it out, call the Recycling Hotline at 604-RECYCLE.
Spring cleaning is a big job but it doesn’t have to be. One last tip: give us a call at Green Coast Rubbish to deal with your spring clean. We will do all the cleaning out, sorting and disposal for you and typically recycle 80% of materials we haul away. It’s that easy!
