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Post by dtesposito on Dec 18, 2014 10:35:09 GMT -5
I agree that there's nothing wrong with *not* tossing them in a manner that will end up filling you with regret.
But this is the key. IF you have a way to do it that you will actually be able to do, it's great--no one would tell you not to do it. I know from experience though, that when you look at the stuff, and can't bring yourself to throw it away, and have no car or other way to get where you need to take it--what happens? It sits in your house for another year, or five, or ten.
I would venture to say that the people on this board are more likely than the average person on the street to be concerned about the environment. That's partly why we're in trouble, we're trying to do the right thing for the planet, but end up doing harm to ourselves. And my point in the above post is that keeping the stuff seems to be the right thing to do, but in the end it won't get into "proper" recycling anyway--and in the meantime your life has been much harder because you've had to step over the crap for 20 years.
So my suggestion is: if you want to get every item to a perfect home, give yourself a time limit to see how you're doing, and work as hard as you can at at. Say, a month or two months, no longer. If after that period of time you haven't managed to find the perfect solutions, and your place looks no better, even though you've been thinking and planning about it (which is not the same as acting) then be honest with yourself and throw out the difficult stuff until you get yourself together.
Diane
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Post by cyn on Dec 18, 2014 11:06:07 GMT -5
Yes, I did keep those paints for almost 10 years, in a cupboard that could have saved me lots of heartache had it been put to proper use. But I also had all those plastics, with no good reason to get rid of them - or *not* get rid of them, since I could have walked them to the curb on any recycling day. I wonder if not knowing how to get rid of the paint in an environmentally-friendly way was influencing my plastics hoard? Like, that cupboard is a write-off already, why not add some glass jars/plastic containers to it too? IDK. I don't want to say that this was an excuse to save everything. I have no idea why I saved what I did.
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Post by dtesposito on Dec 18, 2014 11:13:11 GMT -5
Yes, toxic things are a huge problem for me too, there is no option for that at all unless you have a car. I'm certainly not able to take a taxi and pay $50 to get rid of the stuff--that's what cab fare would be. Once a year there's an electronics collection a few blocks from me, but they only take electronics and batteries, not paint or chemicals. It seems that local governments could do a lot better job in facilitating the proper disposal of these things.
Diane
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Post by cyn on Dec 18, 2014 11:22:45 GMT -5
It seems that local governments could do a lot better job in facilitating the proper disposal of these things. That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Or even if the store that are profiting from their sales, could have a disposal bin for them? The more I think about it, the more I wonder about what goes on inside, and how we make decisions. I did declare amnesty on this stuff when I went through both my bathroom and kitchen cabinets, not long ago. But was there a tipping point? What made it ok this time? Was it thinking about all the mouse poop, and just wanting that to go directly into a garbage bag instead of dragging yucky germs through the house? Was I just fed up, and wanted to deal with it is the fastest way possible? You'd think I'd know, it was my mess and my decisions. But I don't. Like, why was I always whining about a vanity that didn't have enough room in it, when I had empty boxes and expired pills hogging up space? I wonder how the 'experts' can decipher the hoarder's mind, when a hoarder can't even do that, !
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Post by shosha on Dec 28, 2014 15:15:58 GMT -5
Oh, talking of cloth nappies, one way of making a bit of a dent in the rubbish-made-of-worrying-stuff the household puts out is for anyone in the house who menstruates to switch (full or part time) to reusable sanpro. Washable pads are way comfier than disposables, and don't seem to leak any more than disposables, though they're not that convenient while out and about. Can always mix and match, using disposables if out of the house for a few hours. Washable silicone cups are my favourite, though I haven't used mine for a while. Neither option is completely hassle free, but they're not that difficult either. Good point, I forgot about this one. Dd is prepubescent, but has already got some cloth San pro tucked away in her drawer that she and I made together. She is very senstive to perfume, and is getting more and worse reactions. Knowing how I have often reacted to disposable towels I anticipate that she is going to be in trouble there too. Our intention is to use cloth at home and disposable at school, if we can even find stuff she doesn't react to, generally the more expensive brand names tened to be the worst for this. Will see how she finds the reality I guess, but for now we ought to get some more cute pads sewn for when she needs them - I used to make and sell cloth nappies so I have stacks of supplies still kicking about. I know branded products aren't identical on both sides of the pond, but I've found the basic Kotex towels, no bells and whistles (over here they come in a white pack with black lettering and some red image like a shoe or a flower or something) seem to be pretty good for not causing sensitivity, and they're fairly soft. There are also eco brands that use unbleached components and such and they are even better for not causing sensitivity issues BUT they also seem to leak a lot more and they're quite prone to the top and bottom layers splitting apart, leaving the filling getting everywhere, so for us the Kotex seem to be a good balance of the two. DD has moderately sensitive skin and (being autistic) is VERY sensitive to things being itchy, clammy and so on, and she seems fine using the Kotex ones. They're also a lot cheaper than Always and other brands, at least here. Fleece (as in, the kind they make blankets out of) is really nice for soft and surprisingly leakproof cloth pads, and it's easy to get in lots of colours, by the way!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2014 15:53:46 GMT -5
So my suggestion is: if you want to get every item to a perfect home, give yourself a time limit to see how you're doing, and work as hard as you can at at. Say, a month or two months, no longer. If after that period of time you haven't managed to find the perfect solutions, and your place looks no better, even though you've been thinking and planning about it (which is not the same as acting) then be honest with yourself and throw out the difficult stuff until you get yourself together. Diane This is a fantastic solution! I'm going to start placing time limits on things. And I agree with your entire post, 100%. As for myself, I have found that I have to go back & forth, depending on how cluttered my house is at the moment. There are times when I've just finished a big clearout or a big cleanup, and during those times I'm able to wash out containers, put them into the recycling bin, and emptying it out into the bin outside on a regular basis. But other times, life gets busy, my house gets messy, and it's a challenge just to get the trash bin to the curb on trash day. During those times, everything just gets tossed in the trash because otherwise it would pile up inside the house. Another example: This week I'm on vacation, so I'll have time to pack up donations as I declutter, and take them to the thrift store. But a month from now, I'll be busy with work. So 99% of anything that gets decluttered at that time will go into the trash bin because I cannot afford to let it pile up inside the house. For me, allowing things to accumulate, even in storage boxes, leads to trouble. Before I know it, the clutter is out of hand. So I've learned that I just cannot allow things to remain in my house if they are not being used or enjoyed in some way.
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