‘De-cluttering’ offers many benefits

When I first hopped on the Malaspina in 1970, I had my backpack, a guitar in one hand and a suitcase stereo in the other. Since then I’ve moved several times, and each time it’s been with increasingly more possessions. Today, the two of us have outgrown our home storage and have resorted to a storage building on our lot.

The last thing I need to hear is some commercial trying to get me to add to my pile of stuff. I understand; it’s just business. Many of us yearn for the time in the past when we were freer and less burdened with material objects. With so much stuff, we spend increasing amounts of time and energy moving, sorting, dusting or otherwise dealing with our stuff. Some of us even stress over our stuff.

So it was refreshing to pick up “Zero Waste Home” at the Wasilla Library. With my concern for recycling, composting and thoughtful buying, I thought it might have some useful ideas. It turns out that the scope of the book is much broader, although author Bea Johnson suggests some smart ways to deal with waste reduction. She contends that removing the excess stuff from our lives will make them fuller and more satisfying because we’ll have time to address the really important aspects of life. She describes her own experiences trying to achieve enough simplicity to have no trash can, a small recycling bin and no stress about stuff.

Her thoughts on de-cluttering her home were pertinent to me and maybe a better place to begin reducing the pile of stuff I’ve collected over the years. She went through her home room by room over a period of months or years to simplify its contents and reduce her workload. She asked herself several questions:

1. Is the item in working order? Is it expired or outdated? Looking around the house, I find a couple of things right away that should be eliminated.

2. Do I use it regularly? I have an unabridged dictionary that is certainly outdated, but I use it regularly. The same cannot be said about the guitar that has been sitting in its case for years.

3. Is it a duplicate? Lifelong and old-time Alaskans may have trouble with this one. Anyone who’s lived in the Bush knows that a duplicate is handy to have for parts. Otherwise, one might be months without (you fill in the blank). As we know, any durable item that is old — say a vehicle or tool made prior to the mid-1990s — is probably made of better materials than any newer item. Better hang onto that in case the newer, more attractive item fails.

4. Does it put my family’s health in danger? With the recent increase in cases of such conditions as asthma, cancer, autism, obesity and auto-immune disease, we really should ask this before we buy or bring anything into our homes. We are what we eat, for example. So if the things we eat include a list of questionable artificial items, colors, fats, MSG, sugars, salt and toxic agricultural residues, we can bet it is affecting family health.

5. Do I keep it out of guilt? Perhaps Johnson’s question should include something about sentimentality. My aunt was a great collector of artifacts from the lives of her family and friends. Furniture, clothes, old tools and kitchen utensils, letters, gifts — she even had a piece of garden hose filled with shot used by our uncle when he served as a mayoral bodyguard in the 1930s. I must admit, I have a bit of that tendency, too.

6. Do I keep it because everyone else has one? Does it truly save time or work effectively? I have an old vacuum cleaner that needs a part, but it requires a throwaway bag to use it. I should just give it to someone who doesn’t mind the continued expense of replacement bags. I have and use a vacuum cleaner I can empty without the extra expense of throwaway bags.

7. Is it worth my time cleaning or maintaining it? Kitchen gadgets come to mind with this question. How much advertising have we seen that depicts the benefits of some item that works OK the first few times we use it, but it’s a pain to clean. Or it falls apart over time. I have something like that in my kitchen drawer right now and I think I’ll go grab it for the Salvation Army bag. Then there’s that painting that I don’t have on the wall any more. I should donate it.

8. Could I use the space for something more useful? That guitar space could be used for sewing projects. If the kids have outgrown that game for 6- to 8-year-olds, perhaps the neighbors could use it.

I may never get back to the backpack moving stage, but Johnson’s questions sparked hope in me that I can have a lot less stuff to clutter my space. At this time of year perhaps a little home de-cluttering, as well as thoughtful buying, would be good for us all.

Be sure to contact MidValley Recycling with your de-cluttering ideas and concerns. And don’t forget that wrapping paper and boxes recycle.

Sammy Taylor lives in Big Lake.