What to do with all the stuff that families accumulate?
I was a little kid in the 60's and a teenager in the 70's. What I remember of those times were that peace and love were big (a couple of my older sisters were "hippies...one even had a Volkswagon bus) and in the 70's all the garbage cans were painted to resemble hungry green monsters with gaping mouths just waiting to consume some garbage. Signs were everywhere saying:
Needless to say, my formative years were spent believing in creating harmony and a healthy, clean earth. Somewhere along the way though I got caught up in my education, building my career, living my life. In the 80's I was a young woman. The message I heard was that you can do anything and have it all.....the excess that everyone was accumulating and the entitlement was making me sick by the end of that decade. Looking back, I realize that it was just a matter of time that I would find my way back to my first impressionable beliefs, we needed to live consciously and harmoniously with Mother Earth.
And that brings me to my green tip when you have a family. Be a careful consumer.
When you have kids, stuff just accumulates...I don't even know how it happens. Well, it starts the moment people hear you are having a baby. Things just start appearing on your doorstep. Beware. The stuff comes.
Also, the moment you start reading books on being a good parent it seems as if you need stuff as a tool to be the perfect parent. When I think about that fancy baby nursery we filled and then decorated for our first daughter, who was only happy while in my arms, it makes me cringe. At the time though we bought into all that crap. My advise from day one is be very selective. If you have to have something then look for it second hand. Babies grow so fast that nothing ever gets really used.
If you have well meaning parents, family and friends who want to help with the 'stuff' then ask them to be conscious as well for the next generations sake and select gently used items for your baby/children. It's just makes sense for the environment and for the pocket book. Better to put your money in the bank and start an education savings account for your baby/children.
We have learned these lessons well though and somewhere along our parenting path we realized that we were inundated with kid stuff....I think our first sale was when our oldest daughter was 9. We had just had our 4th baby the December before and he was our third beautiful son in a row. It was time to let go of baby girl's clothes. Well actually it was more like 9 years of girls stuff....not that we differentiate....if our boys wanted to wear pink and play with dolls that was cool in our books.
It felt so good to let go of those items and it was time for me to also surrender my dream for any other daughters. It made me so happy to see so many other families thrilled to receive beautiful items we had had stored in our crawl space for years. Special energy (check out the Art of Feng Shui ) comes when you release stuff. Whether it is actual stuff, an idea or even a dream, it's freeing. We realized how abundantly blessed we were as we let go.
I should write a post about planning a successful garage sale because I'm the queen of an organized, almost staged looking garage sale. Everything in it's own category, prices clearly marked and I'm great at condensing as things move. My husband D discovered a hidden talent. He can move our crap. Although, we were told that our stuff was "good stuff" by our garage sale customers. It helps if things are gently used, clean and it pays to keep the boxes things come in when you are trying to sell them. If you have the space keep them as you get more money when they are in their original box. Well there are a few garage sale tips even though this isn't really what this blog post is about.
What I wanted to write about was sharing a few green tips....I'm getting there....stay with me.
Each Spring break we de-clutter. I have my kids go through their drawers, closets and toys. If they are too young to decide if something needs to be "dumped, donated, re-purposed or sold," I would quickly review things for them, but as early as I can I get them involved. At even age two, my kids know if they love a piece of clothing or a toy but my advice, go through the stuffies when they are napping. If they haven't ask for that toy in a week, you are good to go with donating it to another child.
I think it's good for children to see things for what they are, just belongings that can be used as needed but when they are no longer used they can let it go. They will also see how abundant they will feel with less as well.
I grew up with parents who were children during the depression. I don't really know what my Dad's experience was but my mom didn't have much. My mom talks about how she loved the Eaton catalogue. She would cut whole families, all their outfits, household belongings and treasure them. When she grew up she became the ultimate at re-purposing an item. Even tiny scraps of material became something and I loved when she gave me little boxes and old bottles for my Barbie house. Even an old kleenex box became a great bed for my dolls.
But she had a hard time letting things go. She wasn't a hoarder by any stretch, as we never had that much stuff but she knew how to reuse anything. I have a little bit of that and as I get older and greener, I'm growing to be more that way. Although, when our older kids were small, we had to do the yearly BIG de-clutter or we would be overwhelmed with a jam packed house. One thing I really love about doing a thorough sweep, is you find things you have been looking for, and often during our de-clutter sessions we hear our kids say, "Wow, I wonder where "that" went!" Suddenly, it was like they had new toys and clothes.
The nice thing for me is that we learned the value in letting go and allowing some space to wash over us. We feel abundant after a good clean and de-clutter, oh yeah, did I mention that we also clean the house while we are purging. This is a big step too as we are clearing out dirt that accumulates as well. Oh the feeling of peace/ It makes me want to sort through a drawer right now. Well almost
And did I tell you all the benefits of the garage sale as well? Our kids have become mini entrepreneurs as they plan the garage sale with me. Some have developed astute business sense. Some diversified what we had for sale by suggesting I bake some of my delicious chocolate chip cookies, the ones with the mint chips. Also, we are famous in our neighbourhood for our popcorn so of course we make lots the morning of the sale and put it into brown bags to purchase. Then if you are eating our popcorn you get thirsty so one of the kids suggested making lemonade. Of course the kind from scratch.
The kids often raked in more from the treats than from selling their belongings and most of our customers said our garage sale was their favourite. Nice to know we can do it up right and make it a pleasant experience for those looking to get good deals and help the environment at the same time.
The saying that has stuck with me is,
~Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without!~
When we are conscious consumers, we make careful choices on what we bring into our homes and how they impact the energy in our family and the environment. Every single thing we choose has an impact, so make wise decisions.
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