Bag Troubles Where Plastic is Outlawed

I just searched for "hoarding shopping bags" and found a nice list from Martha Stewart's website. Of five things to stop hoarding, bags are #1 on the list.

"Unless you re-use them, eliminate that stash of once-used paper and plastic shopping bags. Paper ones can go right into a recycling bin, and plastic ones can be donated to farmers and flea markets (or even animal shelters) for re-use." And, I learned you can recycle plastic bags at many grocery stores in a box outside the front. Keep your eyes open for those.

Plastic bags are banned in my city, so I do keep the few I have and don't feel much guilt. But paper bags--I constantly forget to bring in my cloth bags, so I bring home quite a few brown paper bags. Then I feel some green guilt about "wasting" a bag and want to reuse them. I use them to hold my recycling, but other than that...I don't have much use and they just sit around and take up space.

In the end, if I remembered to bring in my own bags, I wouldn't take home so many. I also need to just recycle them quickly because they take up valuable kitchen space.

To add to this bag conundrum, reusable bags can get pretty germy. It's not sanitary to use unwashed bags repeatedly. Outlawing plastic bags was meant to be a green move, but there have been unforeseen consequences and a rise in bacteria spread via bags. (FYI: "The baby carrier portion of the grocery cart is the most contaminated public surface you ever come in contact with." Thanks, USA Today.)

Growing up, we seemed to have only a reasonable number of bags stored. Perhaps because plastic is smushed and stores more easily. At any rate, I need to work on:

1. Bringing in my own bags--cloth or past paper ones. (Paper might be more sanitary because it's disposable?) I wonder if I need a sticky note in my car to remind me?
2. Washing cloth ones occasionally.
3. Recycling about half of my current paper bags. I can't use them fast enough unless I come up with a clear system of leaving some in my trunk and using them for a while. 

It's the Time of the Season for...Relaxing?

(Sung to the tune of 1968's "Time of the Season" by The Zombies.)

Gentle reader, I've been behind on decluttering as well as blogging, but that's okay. I'm usually quite diligent about mentioning the next free shred day, but I didn't make it this year. Too busy! It makes sense that at some point, the mountain of stuff from deceased relatives reaches a tolerable level and life focus shifts for longer stretches. Enough has been chipped away, and now the stuff left is mine or things I've inherited and could conceivably keep. I still need pare down, though. I have a guest room that could ideally be usable, and right now it's too crowded with a hodpodge of grandparents' keepsakes, my dad's photos, and my own stuff.


I had a very busy spring workwise, so this summer, I decided to just veg for the first part of the break. As in watching bad movies on cable because I can. Gone in Sixty Seconds is not a total waste of time. I admired the cars and some of the humorous dialogue. Is Angelina Jolie's character realistic? No. But I was still glad I watched it. (I also tend to rewatch Harry Potter movies in the summer, but that's higher quality.)


Sometimes it's the season for relaxation. For multiple summers, I'd go on a major decluttering spree giving away things like an old hatchet, vintage cleaver, fishing poles, and whatever weird but cool things I could find in my grandparents' old house. Friends were often amused and excited to see the current list of odd items leaving my home. I got a lot done, but it wore me out some. I'm not particularly left-brained, so it usually took a lot of mental and emotional energy to dig into that stuff.


This summer I decided to relax, so I'm having a cleaning service come by twice a month. They don't declutter so much as do the basics of housecleaning. Two very nice young ladies work for less than two hours. I've noticed I end up cleaning for the cleaning ladies before they come over—you don't want to get embarrassed by the kitchen, right? So their coming keeps me on my toes some. I doubt I'll keep the service past the summer, but there is something lightening and relaxing about having the basics done in such a short period of time. Knowing it'll be taken care of has freed me up to do more nitpicky things, like find my old pairs glasses from high school and my 20s and finally donate them. Fun declutter fact: Take old eyeglasses to Walmart optometry to donate old frames to the Lions Club charity.


I suppose there could be some judgement in hiring a cleaning service. In theory it's better (and frugal) to get good at cleaning my home quickly and regularly, and I have tried the Fly Lady system for “side-tracked home executives” at various times. I think cleaning one's own home is a necessity for most people, but I've also heard that if you aren't talented at something and can afford to hire someone else, there's nothing wrong in having someone else do it. I recently heard blogger and internet guru Michael Hyatt talk in podcast about his wife reaching that same conclusion about housekeeping. You also provide someone else a job. I have mixed feelings about admitting someone else can do it faster and easier, but my hope is that by having the basics done this summer, I can keep channeling energy into other things, including relaxing.


One weird chore on my list, though, is finally selling a couple of slide rules on eBay. A while back they were worth selling, so I'm hoping the market is still strong. I first saw a slide rule in a museum back when I was in elementary school—for the younger folks, they were the predecessors to the calculator. So yes, I have found two in my house, from the 40s or 50s, and yes, it's worth taking the time to list them, package them, and mail them out. I have to make enough of a profit to make the effort, but sometimes eBay is worth it. It would also help fund my summer cleaning service, so while things might cancel out some, I end up feeling like I'm getting a luxurious treat. This summer, it's worth it.

Declutterring Stuff on Your Body...in 7 Minutes

All right, I know I'm not using the knowledge I have to be as fit as I could be, but I'm excited to share that getting healthier doesn't have to take as long as we once thought. Shorter workouts are enough to make a big difference--and the science is here to back it up.

I'd heard about interval training and short workouts from a couple of different sources. One is the online bootcamp site No Excuses Workouts. When I faithfully did my 30 min. workout 6 days a week, I saw real results. The problem was I got a bit bored with the repetition.

I heard more about short workouts while watching a great BBC documentary called The Truth About Exercise (shown on PBS) featuring Dr. Michael Mosley. Some genetically blessed people can get a way with just minutes of intense workouts each week. But not everyone fits into that group.

Then today as I was perusing The New York Times with my new subscription, I saw this great summary of how a 7 minute workout can make a big difference. Hurray for new trends in exercise science! Now the trick is to just do it. I hope that with the same information coming from so many sources, I'll spend more time getting my "mood up and energy up" to tackle life, as the No Excuses instructors say. Not to mention that I'll look better and live longer. Yay simplicity!

Helpful Podcast for a Summer Jumpstart--ADD or Not.

I like to mention useful books, sites, podcasts, etc., and I've found another nice resource: The Taking Control podcast, designed for folks with ADD. I personally don't have an ADD diagnosis, but I often wonder how to order my tasks and can forget to do mundane things, like declutter the entryway. Because I've benefited from other ADD tips, I decided to give this podcast a listen. And most of the advice sounds helpful for my own housekeeping. I also wonder if people with hoarding or OCD tendencies will benefit from much of the same advice. I think there's some overlap.

I'm also willing to bet that if you're decluttering your kinda messy relatives' stuff, you might not be incredibly organized yourself. (Or you rebelled and are extremely tidy and Type A!) So here's a new resource to try out and enjoy. The shows aren't that long, so it's the perfect amount of time to fold some laundry and listen in.

Surfing YouTube and Finding Insight--Why People Can't Let Go of Stuff

If you don't remember, I originally started this blog as a way to discuss how to dispose of items from an inherited estate. More specifically, I was the last relative standing dealing with my grandparents' belongings, and as cool as my relatives were, it's important to say they were on the hoarding spectrum. I always say they didn't have dead rats buried under paperwork or anything like that--more just keeping and retaining regular life items without culling through them--bills, glasses, dishware, travel souvenirs, etc. They did organize stuff by category, at least--they just didn't let go of it. And I would guess this clutter tendency got worse as they aged, though growing up during the Great Depression probably caused them to hold onto everything as they went through life.

As I've gone through layers of their home (literally and metaphorically), I've sought information and watched a fair number of TV shows about hoarding. Today I found some short and helpful online videos from the International OCD Foundation featuring Randy Frost, PhD, giving insight into how hoarders process information differently. According to Frost, they see more special details about objects and then have a harder time letting go of them. If you see extra knowledge as empowering, these videos could be for you. And while hoarding causes stress for family members, one positive note is that hoarders can be creative people who notice what others miss. If you're intrigued, see his helpful videos--"Causes of Hoarding" is below: