Recycle Archives - SOS: Simple Organized Solutions LLC

Should I Sell or Donate Unwanted Items?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-09-27T15:23:59-05:00 October 4th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Recycle|Tags: donate, organizing process, purge, recycle|

During the purge part of the organizing process, I’m often asked if an unwanted item should be donated or sold. This is a great question! The short answer is that it’s an individual preference. In my experience, most people know what mechanism they want to use to discard unwanted items. There are some items that have been in families for generations, and the current owners think they may be of value, but they’re not sure. For those items, I recommend getting an appraisal to determine value. Then decide whether to contact other family members to see if they want the [...]

Where to Donate Your Treasures

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-06-05T13:30:58-05:00 June 7th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Recycle|Tags: charities, donate, purge, recycle, tips|

I’m often asked, ‘where do I donate _______?’ (fill in the blank). When I’m asked this question is typically during, or after a purge session. Whether it’s spring cleaning, or time to downsize, you may come across items that are not trash-worthy. These items still have mileage in them and you don’t want them to end up in a landfill. The obvious solution is to recycle them. Recycling has a variety of meanings; send to a recycling facility, repurpose/reuse, sell or donate. This post focuses on where to donate specialty items. There are many charities that accept donations. The [...]

Go Green During Spring Cleaning

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2018-03-13T18:41:06-05:00 April 26th, 2015|Categories: Planning, Recycle, Spring Cleaning|Tags: green, recycle, spring cleaning|

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Spring cleaning is a process that can take quite a while. It’s not typically done in a weekend. There are many rooms and spaces to consider, along with the yard and perhaps a vehicle or two. As we clean, we declutter and clear our homes of items we no longer need, want or love. Some of the items to discard are still in good shape while others are not. The items that still have life in them could be donated to a charity so that someone could reuse them. Non-working items such as, [...]

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Where do Your Unwanted ‘Things’ go to Die?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2016-04-06T11:56:58-05:00 October 21st, 2013|Categories: Donation, Home Organization, Recycle|Tags: clutter, donation, recycle|

All of us have ‘things’. Stuff we accumulate over the years. We have things in our homes, in other people’s homes, in storage units at, or away from our homes. We have things that help us with activities of daily living, things of beauty to decorate us, or other things, sentimental things that trigger happy memories, etc. All of these things have lives, an amount of time to us when they are no longer useful or provide beauty. At the end of their lives, which is determined by us, our ‘things’ die. There could be many reasons for the death of [...]

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We Didn’t Have The ‘Green Thing’ Back in Our Day

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2016-04-27T17:22:26-05:00 September 23rd, 2013|Categories: Recycle, Seniors|Tags: green, recycle, reused, seniors|

I recently received this email message from my 84, almost 85 year old father and thought I would share. The author makes a very good point about the ‘green thing’ and how it was done in past generations. Enjoy! Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.” The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our [...]

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Clothes Swap Party

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-05-18T17:19:20-05:00 June 25th, 2012|Categories: Decluttering, Recycle, Rightsizing|Tags: declutter, purge, recycle|

Years ago a good friend of mine made a very good suggestion for a girl’s get-together; a clothes swap party! She had a lot of clothes that no longer fit or that she no longer loved. She was thinking that her friends may have the same dilemma. Since we are all different sizes, and have different tastes, we may want clothes that others are ready to part with. And how many times have you admired a blouse or pair of jeans that a girlfriend is wearing? Like minds typically become friends and hang out together. Shopping for new clothes can get [...]

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How to Dispose of Environmentally Non-Friendly Stuff

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2018-03-27T16:56:58-05:00 April 3rd, 2012|Categories: Decluttering, Organizing Tips, Recycle, Spring Cleaning|Tags: expired medications, gasoline, recycle, smoke detectors|

Ever have an item that you know you shouldn’t dispose of in your trash bin but didn't know where to take it? Like most of us, you want to be respectful of our environment so your kids & grandkids can enjoy our planet for years to come. These days, most communities have some means to recycle. Whether it is curbside pickup, or dumpsters in school parking lots, you can usually find a local solution to reduce your carbon footprint. There are however, rules as to what specifically you can and cannot put in those bins. This post is for those [...]

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Keep It Simple – Repurpose Organization Resources You Already Have

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2016-08-10T12:15:55-05:00 May 18th, 2011|Categories: Home Organization, Organizing Tips, Recycle|Tags: organizing, recycle, reuse|

Many clients will ask what type of containers to buy in preparation for our first organizing session. It makes sense to ask that question. What I tell them is, don’t buy anything just yet. We need to assess your needs first, then, begin to sort through all the items in a room or area of a room. During the initial sort, all kinds of containers are emptied that you can repurpose for organizing systems to meet the need of that particular room or area. It’s amazing how many containers you have around your home that can be reused. There could [...]

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Moving Day

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-01-04T10:23:24-05:00 March 30th, 2011|Categories: Downsizing, Moving, Organizing Tips, Recycle|Tags: moving, packing, planning, recycle, scheduling tasks|

Moving to a new home is an exciting adventure. It’s also a major undertaking that requires a significant amount of planning. If you have a home that needs to be sold, that should be job one. Staging your home for sale is somewhat of an art and is an article all by itself. This post talks about what you need to do to prepare for moving day. Your plan needs to begin when you know the actual date, or a ballpark idea of the date of the move. Create a list of to-do’s and the dates they need to complete. [...]

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Leaves, leaves, everywhere!

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-11-06T13:30:10-05:00 November 3rd, 2010|Categories: Organizing Tips, Recycle|Tags: compost, fall, raking leaves|

I have a lot of trees in my fairly large yard, and you know what that means, lots, and lots, of leaves are starting to fall at this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I love fall! However, I dread the idea of raking leaves. You almost have to wait for all, or at least most of the leaves to fall before you start picking them up or it will become a recurring weekend event between now, going into December. Sometimes we don’t even have a fall, it goes straight into winter, and then the leaves have to wait until [...]

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