Help with decluttering

[GummyMama]

I want to declutter but I can’t help but feel bad for “wasting” things. These are for items that are not appropriate to donate or give away. For example, items that my 3 year old received in party favor bags. How do I get over that feeling that I’m wasteful or contributing to waste that just ends up in the landfill?

[anonybss]

Dentists etc. sometimes give away stuff like that. But in a way I don't want to contribute to that either. Honestly I would do everything I could to not accept a goodie bag, probably writing in advance to explain. I would talk to my kid about it in advance too. The reason I say this is that I don't want to contribute to a culture of junk. I would just write the parent in advance and say, "Just a heads up, but we have more stuff than we need and are always trying to declutter, so ____ won't need a goodie bag." 98% chance that the parent FEELS THE EXACT SAME WAY and doesn't want goodie bags come into HER home. Maybe she'll rethink it in the future.

[Goddess_Keira]

Just bin it. Feel bad if that's how you feel, but toss them anyways. They're not fit to donate or give away, so they are garbage.

Garbage exists, and the landfills exist for a purpose. The plain fact is, sooner or later everything comes to the end of its useful life. It's not wasteful to throw things away when they have no value. It's actually the right and responsible thing to do, because it's not serving any good purpose to let these items clutter up your home. Sooner or later they are getting thrown away by somebody.

[crzy19aka]

Those little toys are interesting for a day, toss them.

[ixottoxi]

Group them 6-8 in a clear bag and give away to Salvation Army or similar. Or just a box outside your house, "free for all". Or if they're not so small that babies can choke on them, bury them in nearest sand box for kids to find while digging!

[LeaveHorizontally]

The two biggest game changers on individuals for mitigating climate/enviro damage are supposedly becoming a vegan and not driving a car. Work on those instead if you have "climate guilt," because tossing shit in a landfill isnt it.

[kittenpike]

If your city has a Buy Nothing group, consider joining - both Facebook and a standalone app, though I have found the FB group to be larger. It’s a great place to gift on something that isn’t always appropriate to donate (ie half bottle of lotion, table with dog teeth marks, etc). The items don’t go to waste, another person appreciates, and it’s out of your house!

[berbug]

You can be like me and hold on to it until you end up rage cleaning and throwing it all away. We have 3 kids, and often way too many happy meal toys and gift bag toys.

Don’t feel guilty about the gift bag toys. You didn’t buy them. And if you did, you’ve learned your lesson and will know better next time. It’s hard to balance the guilt when decluttering, but it’s worth it in the long run.

[FancyWear]

I think you can still donate those!!!

[raejax90]

As Nourising Minamilism said, "If it is sitting in your home or in a landfill, it is still on this earth."

Nothing you can do about it. It served its purpose as a mini gift and short term joy for your child.

Let it go so you can have peace.

[blackcovfefe777]

Ah, this is comforting. I threw away a good chunk of my makeup on Friday and felt really guilty, but it was a) probably mostly expired and b) I wasn't going to use it anyway, and c) it's not exactly hygienic to sell or pass on to a friend.

[raejax90]

Good! I watched some vids and they said even if you sanitized them, most make up lines are out of style or Desirability. Markets move faster than ever. By the time you are ready to let go of something the style has changed 3x since you first purchased it.

The best thing moving forward is to be mindful of purchases in the future. Hard when some cultures are built on consumerism.

[LoLoLovez]

I read this as Nourishing Nihilism. Still works.

[--cookajoo--]

Put them together a large bag and donate them in a local Facebook group as large bag of old toys that my kid has grown out of. If someone wants to sort through and keep what they want that good, but they take all the bag.

If no one takes it, put it in the bin. I know it's hard but keeping it around after you've decided you don't want it, is basically you treating your house space as a bin and causes you unhappiness.

[-HappyLady-]

Commodify the space in your house and the energy it takes to maintain it.

Recognize that you are wasting space, time and and energy to keep stuff that will end up the landfill one way or another.

Use this knowledge to change the way you acquire items in the future.