I recently realized I am zero waste OCD edit; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
I realized just thinking about upcycling and stacking functions invokes a glee response : dopamine fix !
So yes, I clutter, I hoard because short of mail order, involving accompanying fibre glass threads in the tape on the boxes that will be used then composted, and plastic bubble packets (why are those still legal??), I end up having to hoard a lot of stuff
Because the stores are so far away!!!.
Add to that low income (even though there are minimal heat costs, no mortgage etc.,) and it is hard to throw out clothing that will fit again, once full recovery from surgery is attained. Especially as the quality of clothing is declining faster than you can say China. And much of the hoard is thrift store quality clothing.
For me, one of the challenges was organization.
I have very poor organization and planning skills.
But
I am well on my way to hoarding recovery!
While off grid, reading and listening to umpteen books on how, I found one useful piece of advice, while doing dishes and listening to a book
Where do I put this item that needs to be put away?
Forget where it should go
(After this place has been cleared out and that stuff has been sorted through)
Put it where you would look for it
That's your current system whether you like it or not
Later, you can always go back and relocate a whole section.
So I set about thinking about all my stuff, some of it inherited as such when I bought my small house, and decided to treat the whole property as a department store / hardware store
I got help with identifying small hardware as this stuff isn't cheap, but did quite well separating this sort of thing into clear plastic jars, before obtaining help
The rest: clean it, label it, date if applicable, bag in clear ziplock bags where applicable, glass jars of its food stuffs (mice)
Buy tons of galvanized cans and have a system to identify contents, standard Rubbermaid totes, get rid of the chests of drawers and use totes for everything, and, try to get everything off the floor, and put out the door where possible.
I'm one of those people who can't make decisions while already doing the above task, so:
Forget the guilt that some of this you will need to downsize -- you can do that later when you've gone through all of (one person's clothes / food items / auto items / bedding etc)
In my case being remote, forget garage sales and online sales: just give it away,
compost, throw away, or keep.
The thing with keeping is to treat every space as a container. A cupboard holds so much (and nothing can fall out when it opens) so if that's all the space you have for this item, the rest must go, unless you crucially need an overstock area that you can newly create (like storage above the bathroom door for light, unbreakable ziplock bagged towels)
Lastly, a rule of thumb is if you want to bring that in the house, stuff twice that volume must go out.
The main thing is working towards everything being clean, stored with like items, identifiable by others, and easy to find.
If you hoard, prep, or simply stock everything so you don't need to leave home, I think it's okay as long as you can find what you need.
When COVID came, my life didn't change.
2
