With the invasion of the “Spark Joy” movement, a lot of families are purging more than usual this New Year!
If you haven’t heard of it, the popular Netflix series Tidying up with Marie Kondo showcases a specific method to “tidying up” and simplifying your belongings. One of the main themes is, if it doesn’t “spark joy” then you should “release” it. MMMkayyyy!
I do find clutter and “stuff” overwhelming at home. It’s hard to “release” anything when you have multiple kids as I want to get the most use out of every single thing. As a result, I have 17 pairs of winter boots in various sizes on my garage shelf, which sparks zero joy.
In any case, this is the time of year for purging especially as we head into spring and spring cleaning. I usually have a bag on the go to take to one of those textile recyling bins. Then I don’t have to think too much about getting rid of stuff. Even if it has a hole in it, there is a sorting process and they’ll recycle what they cannot use/sell. Right?
Sooooooo… with the recent issues around these boxes, these donation boxes are being phased out, meaning that I actually have to face what’s going to happen to my items. This is kind of forcing an overall shift for me in purchasing – as it should. We really need to look at what we own and take responsibility for it from purchase to end of life. There is no denying how convenient the donation “bin” system is, but when I can jam it into a bag and throw it into a bin and have it become someone else’s problem so easily it is TOO convenient.
The first step to reducing the clutter and hassle of having to appropriately discard our items would obviously be to stop buying so many things… I’ll be the first to admit I love a good garage sale or thrift shop – kind of part of the problem when I go to donate my items and “just take a quick peek inside…” But I digress. Here are some of our listeners’ favourite places to take items for donation:
- Big Brothers – they’ll pick up from your home or you can find a clothing donation location to drop to.
- SPCA Thrift Store in Cloverdale
- Atira Women’s Centre
- Surrey Fire Fighters & Hospice Thrift Store
- World Serve in White Rock
- Surrey Women’s Centre
Stores
- Value Village (various locations)
- Talize (various locations)
- H&M (take in a bag of textiles/clothes for recycling/reuse and receive a $5 coupon!)
Find me on social media with any other gems for recycling, reusing and the best way to donate your clothing!
Jen
#ThatSurreyMom
@jenxrobbins