“I WANT TO MINIMIZE, BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL MY STUFF?”

Not gonna lie…I am pretty ashamed of myself. I haven’t written a blog post in over TWO MONTHS. Despite the last couple of months being insanely busy with the holidays, entertaining, working full-time, and spending a week in Mexico, this is not acceptable and I apologize for being so neglectful of my beloved blog.

Today I would like to address a question that comes up over and over again on social media and when I talk about minimalism with others. People often tell me that they want to live more minimally but have a simple concern: “I have so many items that I want to get rid of, but I don’t want to just throw them out… what should I do with all of my stuff?”

This question literally comes up ALL. THE. TIME.  And I get it. People want to minimize…they just don’t want to clog up the landfill. Well folks, I am here to tell you that the majority of the 2000 things I’ve discarded in the last year and a bit were not sent to a landfill. In fact, throwing them in the garbage was my very last option. So what did I do with everything? And what can you do with everything? Read on!

Option 1:  SELL YOUR STUFF

You know the expression “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? Well, guess what?… it’s kinda true. When I played the Mins Game back in November, I made over $400 selling my “trash” to other people who will actually use it. How? Three words: Facebook Bidding Groups.

I am part of a local group that allows me to auction off my items to other people who want my stuff, sometimes so badly that the auctions turn into mini “bidding wars” between people. All I have to do is take pics of the item, give it a brief description, and put a starting bid (I usually start very low with most of my bids at “free” or $1) and an end date and time. That’s it!

The best part? The Facebook group I’m a part of uses the “bin system”: I put the items that people have won in a large Rubbermaid bin that hangs out on my front porch, and they can come and pick up the items whenever it’s convenient for them. This means that I don’t have to meet with people, do awkward exchanges and experience no-shows. They just take their item and leave the money.

In the past two years, I’ve sold thousands of dollars of stuff on this one Facebook group (without a word of a lie, selling my old junk paid for a two-week trip for my husband and me, including flights and accommodations!), and I’m always a little shocked at what people will actually buy. Some surprising things that I made money off of during the Mins Game include: used brand name makeup, a toque/beanie, mugs, hair accessories, tea, and cheap earrings that people bid on for more than I originally bought them for! I highly recommend searching for a bidding group in your area and putting your stuff up for sale!

Option 2:  GIVE YOUR STUFF AWAY

My second option is to donate stuff that doesn’t sell or just isn’t great for resale in the first place. For example, clothing isn’t usually good for personal resale unless it’s brand name. The majority of my clothing is definitely not brand name and I usually just donate it to my local Goodwill after I’m done with it. Thrift stores are awesome for used clothing because people often go to thrift stores with the specific intent of buying cheap, used clothing.

Other things I opt to donate instead of trying to sell are books, bags, older electronics, and bathing suits. My donate list also includes niche items like buttons, pins, and knick-knacks. While you may not have a use for it, there are people who scour thrift stores looking for little oddities to add to their collections. If it would still be useful for someone out there, then it can probably be donated!

Option 3: RECYCLE YOUR STUFF

Unfortunately, not everything can be sold or donated. This includes things like near-empty plastic, metal or glass containers, food containers with no lid, notes from your university days, aerosol cans, and broken electronics.

Most glass, plastic, and paper items can be thrown in your recycling bin, but check with your town or city first! Many fire stations have an area where you can take any used aerosol items or toxic stuff like old paint. Old electronics can be recycled as well! Most Staples stores have a recycling area where you can take all your old and deceased electronic devices.

Old clothing that is in too poor of condition to donate can also be recycled too! For example, my city of Calgary has a textile recycling program.  The fast-fashion giant H&M also takes old clothes and household items (sheets, curtains, towels, etc.) off your hands with their textile recycling program – just drop your stuff off at any H&M!  If recycling isn’t an option, you can always cut up your old clothing and household items to use as rags! Just don’t do this all the time or you’ll have way too many old rags taking up space!

Your VERY Last Option: TOSS IT

After exhausting all other options, your very last option is to toss your old stuff. It’s simply a fact of life that you can’t sell, donate or recycle EVERYTHING. In an ideal world, that would be awesome. Unfortunately, it’s currently not possible to recycle things like broken hairbrushes, dried-up bottles of nail polish, or damaged treated wood.  So yes, you may have to trash some things.

I only threw out 75 of the 465 things I got rid of when I played the Mins Game in October; this amounts to approximately 16% of the total number of items. Not too shabby a statistic for stuff that was just taking up valuable space in my home!

Let me know if you have any other tips or tricks for keeping old stuff out of the landfill. I love to hear from my readers!

Until next time,