Last Friday our NAPO-CT chapter had a visit from the nice people at SCRRRA, who taught us a LOT about recycling. I also realized how much recycling has to do with organizing. And yes, it’s more than just the sorting.
The biggest revelation came from the list of things that can’t be recycled and WHY. For example, did you know that you actually do more harm than good, when you try to recycle your plastic shopping bags at home? It’s true. When they get mixed up with the single stream recycling, they just end up with the regular trash. They may also jam up the machinery. Also, the paper you shred at home, does not get recycled either.
It’s in the Capture
How can this be? It has to do with the capture issue. Plastic and paper can’t be recycled unless they are captured in a pure, manageable quantity. When you bring your plastic shopping bags to the supermarket collection however, they are baled with other plastic shopping bags and can be recycled. Similarly when you bring your paper to a shredding company, the shredding is captured in a bale. This bale of pure shredded paper CAN be recycled. A good recycling rule of thumb might be “capture in a bale, never fail.”
Same with Organizing
By extension, when getting organizing, what you capture for your next stage matters too. The key to staying organized is a plan for movement, in a series of manageable, reliable steps. That’s what I call the circulation solution and it is the most vital part of staying organized.
Let’s take organizing and donating clothes for example. There is a huge difference between choosing to donate a shirt and its appropriate delivery. It all depends on whether the capture in the next stage is manageable and reliable. Are the clothes in bags, that you can carry to your car? And if so, are there more than will fit? Do they need special assignment to several different destinations? Do you have time for that?
Perfectly Disorganized
Perhaps the biggest culprit to making the capture manageable and reliable is perfectionism. Progress doesn’t happen if you don’t recognize all the necessary steps. But it also doesn’t happen if you create too many unnecessary steps. That’s because you’re trying to do things perfectly.
When getting organized it is important to look at the big picture. There are a lot of reasons to get organized, but what’s yours? Are you moving? Trying to create space for a home office? Need to create a baby’s room? Don’t try to apply the perfect treatment to every excess item in that space. If you do, you significantly compromise completion of your top priority. If everything’s important, then nothing’s important.
The Small Stuff
Returning to recycling, the comparable example of this point would be lids and caps. You probably know these aren’t recyclable, but have you ever wondered why? It’s because they are too small and fall through the conveyor belt. When this happens, they join the regular trash in the automated sorting process. The perfectionist in you might say, ”Hey the cap is plastic, so it should be recycled too!” Again the issue is the capture.
If the caps can’t be captured with the other plastics, they can’t be recycled. If you can’t capture your organizing plans in manageable, reliable steps, then you are less likely to do them.
Recycling laws seem to change all the time. Consequently, it can be incredibly frustrating trying to do right by the environment. We are still trying to figure out the most effective ways to recycle. But understanding how to prioritize first, can help ease that frustration. I would argue that the same is true with organizing.
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What some of our clients are saying
In the past several years, I had emptied 4 separate dwellings, my grandmother’s apartment, my mother's house, my mother-in-law’s house, and my mother’s next apartment.
Intrigued by the notion of death cleaning and the painful memory of the cleanouts, I too began to consider what I might choose to leave behind.
So, what began with a trial run, (a thorough clean out of my eldest son’s childhood bedroom) I was ready to accomplish something far greater.
When my kids learned of my intention to launch an attack on the mother of all clean-outs (the basement), they worried what this might entail both physically and emotionally, So, to my surprise, a plan was hatched for a consultation with organizer, Matt Baier!
Meeting with Matt, with the support of my husband, and in the presence of the madness (furniture from various owners, cardboard in every size and shape, school supplies from a lifetime of working in classrooms, and twenty-three plastic bins containing the details of my children’s lives)... felt like the perfect storm.
As we continued to mine through vessels of pottery, glass, random art supplies, remnants of carpeting, wood, and fabric, costumes, tubs, screens, windows, and a life-size stuffed man we called Ned, Matt was busy outlining a tactical plan of action. Meanwhile, as we stepped amid multiples of objects including, but not limited to, kitchen appliance, toys, exercise equipment, electronics, glassware, three TV’s, VHS tapes, cartons of emergency meals packed since 2001, and mountain of debris that hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Matt’s resolve only grew stronger.
Unequivocally, meeting Matt was the lifeline we needed to pull us up from the weight of what we no longer needed in order to pass it all on to those who could benefit from donations.
So with a plan in place, come that Wednesday, a team of three remarkable women arrived at 9:30 a.m. to bring order from the chaos, in two short days.
The process from day one would have been impossible to imagine. But these three incredible workers managed to remove everything from the basement in systematic stages, but not before passing each and every object, large and small, through my hands for my simple proclamation: keep, donate, trash or sell. Although daunting in scope, with each passing minute, the sorting really was simple, fast and surprisingly painless! Granted, I was a motivated purger, so nothing gave me more happiness than shouting: donate with as much gusto as I could muster!
These women were absolute angels. They were physically and mentally strong, determined to complete the work on time, and committed to organizing and reorganizing with thoughtful intention and microscopic precision to the work of sorting and discarding. In no time, as the basement grew unbelievably spacious, these three, then assembled new industrial shelving to accommodate clear, labeled bins (all provided by Matt) to create a visually consistent and clean appearance to this new system of organization
Through it all, Matt and his crew demonstrated common sense, sensitivity, practicality, wisdom, efficiency, an uncanny ability to problem solve and think on their feet, professionalism, most of all, kindness.
Included in the package was the capable Junkluggers crew. They arrived to haul it all away from my backyard: first to their charity center, then, to a consignment shop and finally to the dump to deposit my trash.
What a relief to watch them pull away with most of my basement firmly ensconced in the bed of their truck.
One week post clean out, I process the experience a little more each day. The sense of well being and gratitude I feel is immeasurable.
Thank you Matt!
We decided to use Matt Bowers organizers based on recommendations and meeting with Matt Bowers himself.
All of our expectations were met and more. His team of experts were great. They were true professionals in every aspect of the word. Always on time, very knowledgeable and experienced and very accommodating. All through the project they were very attentive to our needs and opinions. And not less important were always punctual and industrious.
Our house is so much more functional now and better organized while we managed to get rid and donate a huge amount of stuff that was just occupying space.
We highly recommend Matt Bowers Organization
Noni and Giora Davidai, New canaan CT
Matt and his team were very professional, responsive to my needs and were able to accommodate my aesthetic into their work. But most importantly they were fun to work with and I felt completely at ease discussing my challenges with them. They truly listened. I would recommend them for any project without reservation.
After several other moves, one of which we were only given a 24-hour notice to move all household items into storage, items were just boxed without labels. Since we had no idea where certain items were, duplicate items bought and used. Along came another move, and we continued to box and move those items again. Finally, we needed to combine similar items to reduce the clutter! The team worked so well, always exceeding my expectations by getting this massive project done! It is wonderful to be organized again and able to find items with ease.
The process with the Team is simple, and you work at your own pace. No one will pressure you to get rid of items. Also, there is a great option to donate items. We were fortunate to have boxes and boxes of kitchen items, household, and bathroom items neatly organized or donated to a charity. We can not thank the team members enough for all the work that they did.
We find so much more clarity with an organized home. The flow of our home is peaceful, and we no longer staring at clutter or rearranging boxes to get them out of view!
Matt's company came highly recommended by several local Realtors. At first, I was a bit concerned about the pricing seeming very expensive; I quickly realized that it was worth every penny and soon became a seasonal client.
The team arrives so prepared and professional; they know just what to do and I can be as involved as much as I choose; or not all. They just get the job done.
Just as an example, I had over 15 file boxes of papers and Matt's team organized and reduced it down to only 4 well organized drawers.
Our personal items were sorted, organized, donated or stored neatly throughout the house.
Matt's team was a life saver for my family. I would highly recommend their service; The results are well worth the investment.
Imagine An Organized Home