Spark Relief: Declutter Five a Day

Turn decluttering into a fun, stress-free game

In my ongoing quest to declutter my garage, I’ve purged the easily unloadable: a double dresser, a TV, two never mounted light fixtures in their original boxes, a bike. I’m now down to the dregs: broken electronics, fabric scraps and Halloween costumes along with a sprinkling of useful, pass-along-able items. This dross had drained my motivation.

The five-a-day plan

Then as 2023 drew to a close, I saw a post my friend Monique Labelle-Wheeler shared on Instagram about her successful decluttering project.

Here’s what decluttering 5 items a day since October 31st looks like. We took a junk room in the basement and reorganized it as a gym. Decluttering 5 items a day was not difficult though there is work involved in doing it responsibly. Through my buy nothing group on facebook and Marketplace, I was able to find a new home for most of our things. — Monique Labelle-Wheeler

Five is manageable! Five doesn’t overwhelm! I could do five! So I did.

Small steps add up

I started my five-a-day regimen on January 1st and have stuck with it. Usually, I select stuff in only 15 or 20 minutes, when I need a break from working at my desk.

If I’ve stumbled upon papers, I’ll sort those. Some go in the recycling bin, confidential papers go through the shredder. After a few days of amassing useful items, I’ll post them in my Buy Nothing group if my kids or friends don’t want them. Electronics broken beyond repair go in the e-waste bin at Goodwill. I look forward to unloading our working—but not longer needed—lawnmower! That will free up a big space.

Most days, I exceed my quota. But let’s be conservative and say I’ve done five a day in January and February. That adds up to 300 items! (Or 295 during non leap years.)

Avoid recluttering

As I’ve decluttered, I haven’t recluttered by accumulating stuff to manage the existing stuff. In fact, while sorting, I usually find the types of items I need to help organize what I’ll keep. A Webvan box that I held onto after the dot-com implosion now neatly stores fabric in a closet—but not including the fabric below that I gave away!

Other re-homed items

Someone out there wants the stuff you don’t. See the proof below.

Repairs

My quest motivated me to repair my daughter MK’s flannel pajama bottoms, the waistband of which had lost all elasticity. In 30 minutes at most, I ripped out the casing and elastic, sewed a new casing, measured MK, inserted new elastic, sewed its ends together and sewed the casing closed. MK wears these all the time now (well, not to work).

Upcycles

In addition to that simple, satisfying pajama repair, I also upcycled a decent size pile of fabric. I sewed several reusable cloth produce bags out of lightweight scraps and shopping bags out of jeans. Go here for the produce bag “pattern” and here for the simple jean bag directions. Both are very easy to make and keep loads of plastic pollution out of landfill.

Hands-on life skills such as sewing (and cooking and carpentry and gardening) keep so much stuff out of the waste stream—and save money!

Perhaps I’ll eventually transform my garage into a home gym like Monique did. Without buying more equipment, we have enough for a simple setup: two yoga mats, hand-held weights, resistance bands and probably a couple of other items I have yet to unearth. But for a week or two, once I’ve finished tidying up out there, I’ll simply admire the empty space. Now I’m off to declutter today’s five.

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