It’s truly unbelievable how much ‘stuff’ we accumulate, and you don’t realize it until you have to pick it all up and move it somewhere. Moving from a 2000 square foot house to a 600 square foot apartment really shows it. Before moving Kim and I donated boxes and boxes of books, clothes and other things thinking we’d be lean and mean for the move. Then we opened up cupboards and cabinets and nearly cried. Thanks goodness we’re getting this taken care of now and not right before we’re planning on leaving the country for Peru.
On the upside, it’s easier than ever before to get rid of ‘stuff’ responsibly, that is not just throwing it in the dumpster. Anyone who hasn’t heard of craigslist has been living under a rock and missing out on the best mover of stuff maybe ever. Freecycle is another cool idea, but I use it much less often. People will come and take your stuff off your hands, usually picking it up at your house and sometimes paying for it! It’s a great way to accumulate a lot of stuff for dirt cheap too… Of course, if your stuff is worth a lot and small it’s probably better to put it on ebay and get more money for it. Or you could get all philanthropic and probably save yourself a lot of time by donating your stuff. I’m finding out the tax benefits are decent too now that I’m having to itemize my tax returns. For clothes we like giving to The Last White Elephant in Seattle, which uses money from sales for educating people about animal rights and vegetarianism. Books and CDs we always give to EcoEncore, partly because Kim used to work there but mostly because they’re a great organization that uses proceeds to support local environmental nonprofits.
EcoEncore even promotes a great book called Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everday Things that’s a great little read on how much energy actually goes into making ‘stuff’.
The less stuff I have, the better I feel lately, no matter how much I sometimes crave buying new toys, they don’t usually satisfy me for long, but having a clean, clutter-free environment really does feel satisfying, even if it’s difficult.