The Virtues of (Trying) to be Clutter-free

Less than one month left. Today I felt a bit better and so I sat on the balcony and read a magazine, and then I cleaned out much of the apartment.

It is amazing how much stuff one accumulates (papers, etc.) in a 4 month period.


For several years in my life I was really bad about hoarding things. So, a few years ago I made a personal vow to be much more selective about what I choose to bring into my personal space. I find that eliminating clutter around me helps me to feel mentally clutter free as well. So,if I felt there was a good chance I had something similar already, why by another? I also made a personal vow to use fewer resources, mine and others. Why not reuse and recycle? Both were and are aspects of my commitment to sustainability…it helps in sustaining my personal resources and limits the amount that I contribute to the trash heap every week.

I love, for instance, using my Publix recyclable bag. I love that for 2 years now my weekly trash from all my wastebaskets can all fit very easily into one of those medium sized kitchen trash cans. I love that I use only an online syllabus in my classes and that I grade just about everything electronically; it has drastically eliminated my usage of paper and my student’s. I have become more deliberate and rational about items I choose to purchase and when and where I choose to purchase them. All this and more (things I won’t blog about) have become a little game I play to reduce clutter and the negative impact I have on the environment.

I was inspired by a Furman friend who lives in Boston. She and her husband decided to put a buying moratorium on themselves for one year. I was impressed. While I didn’t have it in me to completely stop buying anything other than the absolute necessities for a complete year, I decided I would put a moratorium on buying all toiletries, soaps, lotions, etc. until I had either used or given to charity all that I had in my bathroom, which at one point a few years ago looked like it could have competed with the shelves of Walgreens or Bath and Body Works (I was a soap and lotion junkie for many years…still love soaps, especially the ones sold at Greenville’s Saturday Morning Market). I am slowly making my way through all these things.

My efforts were aided this past Christmas; I walked over to the Furman library to check out the campus giving tree, which included ornaments, each with the name and requests of a local charity. I jumped at the ornaments for 2 women’s shelters that had shower caps, lotions, soaps, etc. as their needs. I’m not sure what the philosopher Immanuel Kant would say about the virtues of my self-serving act of kindness, but regardless, it helped them and it satiated this crazy need I have to clean out without being wasteful.

I really enjoy cleaning out in small doses, big doses is an altogether different matter. I’m sure some people, namely my Mother and housekeeper, will laugh at my previous statement. I empahtized the other day while reading my BFF Courtney’s blog “A Work in Progress.” Great blog, btw, written by a super special, amazing person. But I digress…she talked about that feeling of satisfaction that is gained from cleaning out her email inbox every day. I achieve that same sense of satisfaction. I just love highlighting and deleting all the unnecessary clutter. Because I have had my yahoo email address since 1997, I receive a lot of mail. I’m actually surprised I don’t get a lot more junk, actually.

So today was satisfying in the sense that I cleaned out a lot of junk. However, as soon as I cleaned out all these papers that feeling of satisfaction was tempered by the fact that I can’t recycle them. That is an essential component of the satisfaction chain. Recycling of paper doesn’t happen here, although people make a regular habit of using both sides of paper. Oh, well. Maybe one day.

I am enjoying the process of deciding what to take back with me and what to give away, and to whom. That has been fun, thinking about who has been helpful and supportive, and who might enjoy what. There is a lot of stuff that won’t make an appropriate gift but is still useful, and I’m trying to gather information about what to do with these items. Should I leave them at the trash cans? There is always someone going through them. Or, should I take them to a church and try to communicate? I think I’ll ask around the next few days to find out the best course of action.

This is clearly going to be a process, so I am glad I have started early. I didn’t leave the flat again today. Need to rest for tomorrow.