Monthly Archives: March 2012

Clutter Control 101

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This evening I attended a presentation by David Downs at the East Brookfield Library; the title of his talk was Clutter Control 101, or How to Organize your Life by Getting Rid of Clutter, a subject that has become one of my recent obsessions.  Dave is a retired third-grade teacher with a master’s degree in Creative Arts; his expertise in the subject of clutter is derived from years of personal struggle.

Dave began with some sobering statistics:

  • In 1960, there were no storage facilities in the United States to speak of; today there are 40,000
  • Forty percent of households cannot keep a car in the garage because there’s no room for it
  • There are 380,000 items in an average 3-bedroom house
  • During the course of a year, we don’t use 80% of what we own

So, why do we all have so much stuff?  Here are ten common reasons:

  1. We might need it someday
  2. Our grown children have moved out but left their things behind
  3. We inherited stuff and don’t want to dishonor the people who gave it to us
  4. We can fix the broken object because it only needs a small repair
  5. We received gifts from people we care about and feel we have to keep them
  6. We can’t resist a bargain and buy stuff we don’t need
  7. We are collectors and have collections
  8. We are creative people and need materials for all our projects
  9. We can’t make decisions about what to do with x, y, and z
  10. We can’t resist attending yard sales, or shopping at flea markets or on e-Bay

So why should we care about all this clutter?  One reason is psychological:  we feel better when we feel more organized (how great is it when we can find things when we need them).  Other reasons are practical:  we can save money and save time.

How does one start?  Consider your own situation and determine how you work best.  One way is to schedule a regular time and stick to it.  Another is to work in spurts or in one long sustained session.

And where does one start?  Pick a room, or a closet, or go even smaller and pick a cabinet or drawer.  Or you could pick an area, like the front hallway, which is the most visible part of the house when you walk in the door.  Once an area like that is cleared out, the house will start looking so much better that you’ll feel inspired to continue with the other rooms.  Or instead of spaces, you could work with categories, such as school papers, or taxes, or audio tapes, or socks (meaning, get rid of unmatched ones).

How does one dispose of all this stuff?  Here are some suggestions:

  • Give things to friends or family
  • Sell things (yard sale, eBay, Craig’s List)
  • Donate!  There are lots of groups out there which will accept donations, among them Salvation Army, Goodwill, church groups, libraries, animal shelters, women’s shelters, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Lions Clubs, local Freecycle groups, town dumps with exchanges
  • Recycle!  Stores like Best Buy and others can accept electronic waste
  • Put stuff by the side of the road (but consider your location and the weather)
  • Throw stuff in the trash!  This is probably the hardest, but it can be done
  • Consider paying someone to take your stuff away — this may cost you between $600-800, but in 1 day, you’ll have made a huge dent

Once you start this de-cluttering process, you need to be vigilant about not back-sliding.  Think about the ten reasons above and consider how you can counter each one (example: drive on by that yard sale).  Make a point of slowing down what’s coming in, and speeding up what’s going out.

Dave ended his talk with a small demonstration:  he came with a handful of stuff from his house that he wanted to get rid of and thew it away in front of us!

I must say that I don’t think I came away with any earth-shattering insights, but I certainly felt validated in my belief that I ought to devote time and energy to removing clutter from my house and life.  I  hope to follow up this post with another detailing the progress I’ve made in de-cluttering.

Greater Worcester Land Trust and African Animals

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I’ve done some volunteer work for the Greater Worcester Land Trust over the past few years, so I received an invitation to the 2011 Annual Meeting, which was held at the Trust headquarters at 4 Ash Street in Worcester, starting at 4:30 this afternoon.  The Trust is entering its 25th year as a Land Trust; they own over 550 acres outright and hold a Conservation Restriction on over 800 additional acres.  All told, the Turst has had a hand in saving 2000 acres of land in Worcester County.

After welcoming the group, President Allen Fletcher asked for the Treasurer’s Report and the Nominating Committee Report, followed by a report from Executive Director Colin Novick.  I had my notebook with me and scribbled frantically as Colin talked, but there was just too much that the Trust accomplished in the past year, and insofar as I don’t want inaccuracies creeping into this post, I won’t attempt a summary.  I will note that the GWLT website is much improved, and you can get a sense of the scope of the work undertaken by the Trust by browsing through the site.

The guest speaker this evening was Mark Blazis, who has an impressive resume, which includes serving as an outdoor columnist for the Telegram and Gazette, heading the Auburn Bird Banding Research Center, and leading photographic safaris to Africa.  Though he has traveled extensively, the African continent retains a special place in his affections, and with his wife Helen he has photographed some of its most spectacular sights, with emphasis on birds and large mammals.

Here are some of his notes on African animals:

  • The wildebeest migration is a year-round phenomenon, which takes the form of a clockwise loop from the Serengeti Plains in Tanzania to Kenya and then back again
  • The Mara River crossing is one of the most dramatic moments in the migration of the 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebras and other antelope
  • The procession across the Mara is led by zebras, who need fresh grass to survive
  • Crocodiles lie in wait at the River, waiting to feed on the animals who die crossing
  • The hippopotamus is one of the most dangerous of the African animals
  • Lions have heard the sounds of Range Rover vehicles since the day they were born, so they do not consider human beings a threat
  • Vultures are like the custodial crews of Africa and are necessary for a healthy ecosystem
  • The wild dog is the best African hunter; if their kill rate is analogous to a batting average, it would be something like .800 or .900
  • Cheetahs are elegant predators who have a preference for gazelles
  • A mother giraffe is very protective of her baby and might come undone if it’s killed
  • Leopards are so solitary that they only tolerate another member of the species in order to mate
  • Elephants revere their matriarchs
  • The Spotted Hyena is a fascinating social animal; generally larger than the male, the female has a pseudo-penis and is dominant in the clan
  • The Black Rhino is so endangered that very few people on safari see them

Now more than ever, I want to visit Africa and see these marvelous sights for myself!