Some posts here on ARoseTintedWorld may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and buy a product or register, then I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. I may also use products from the companies mentioned in these posts. Thank you for supporting my blog!
This is really an update on my post at the start of the year on this being my year to clear. Over 4 months ago I told you of my intention to try and declutter my overwhelming and cluttered house. It is amazing how many things you can accumulate in 20 years of living in a house. Here is my update, and how I am decluttering the Zero Waste way.
*This is a collaborative post – for more details please see my Disclosure Policy
Decluttering The Zero Waste Way
How can you get rid of your clutter in the most environmentally friendly way? Find some great tips and ideas here.
It is very easy just to bundle everything up into black plastic bags. And take them to the rubbish dump or throw them in a skip. But this is so ecologically unsound! Just allowing all my clutter to go to landfill would be a waste of resources and really bad for the environment. So by decluttering the zero waste way I can try and minimise the amount that actually goes into landfill.
Sorting Out My Clutter
I have a 5 bag system for sorting out when decluttering. Items to donate (give away), items to sell, items to fix, items to reuse, and finally items to trash. I am actually quite lucky in having areas in which to store everything. Having a large cellar, garage and attic space is a big help! And it means that the organised piles are out of sight. My attic spare room still looks full, but at least our living areas look a bit less cluttered.
Read here about my 5 bag system – and how it helps me destress to declutter.
Selling Clutter
In the past 4 months I have managed to sell a lot of my unwanted and decluttered items on eBay. I realised about a month ago that I was going to accept the fact that I was only going to have one child, and so have sold a lot of E’s old toys, clothes and other items. Not a bad profit from just selling clutter.
Read here my tips for listing and selling on eBay.
I also managed to sell some old DVDs and books that I cleared out on Ziffit, most charity shops do not take books these days and they don’t sell well at car boots. It was only a few pounds but every little helps.
Find out how you can sell your old things with an app on your phone!
We do need to do a car boot sale, to sell some of the larger items, and things that won’t sell on eBay.
If you have some old gadgets like an earlier generation of an iPad, you can check iPad Recycle. They offer the best deals for all generations of iPads.
Donating Clutter
A fair amount of my clutter has also been donated. I was delighted when a good friend had a little girl a few weeks ago, as this meant that I could send her some of E’s old clothes. This is a great zero waste way of stopping fabric from going to landfill, which is so bad for the planet. Get some more wear out of those clothes!
I do try to reuse a lot of the clothes that I declutter, but there are still items that can really only go to the charity shops. I have been informed that Oxfam are particularly good for utilising everything that they are sent.
Reusing and Recycling Clutter
This is a really big area for me, and an area where I think we could all do more. My clearout has mainly been clothes, but there were also magazines, ornaments and the odd piece of furniture.
There are so many ways we could be upcycling our old clothes. Even if a piece of clothing isn’t good enough to donate to friends or the charity shop, I now have a massive bag of jersey clothes from which I could make a rag rug. I am planning to make one for my little girl’s new outside playhouse.
Find out how you could make your own Rag Rug here.
And there are so many ways of using up old towels and other fabrics. Whilst clearing out I found a lot of burp cloths, bibs and flannel items that were just not good enough for giving away or donating. I plan to make some reusable sanitary pads. At the same time I had a clearcut of my towel cupboard and found that I had a few old towels that were really past their best. I made some reusable kitchen towels, a perfect zero waste substitute for kitchen roll.
Find out how to make your own here.
Sending Clutter to the Bin
Luckily, even if we do go to the local council dump, they have a large recycling centre, everything goes in separate areas, and hopefully a lot of it will still get recycled.
I now have a compost bin to try and minimise my kitchen waste going to landfill too.
So how is my Year to Clear going overall?
I think I am doing well. I said that I was going to try to list 2 items a day on eBay. This never happened, but I am still happy with all that I have listed and how much has sold.
Said that I was going to declutter at least 700 items from my house this year. I think I have probably done that already. But as you can see from my attic photo, I still have a long, long way to go. However, I do also concede that decluttering is an ongoing process. I will not finish clearing this year even if I wanted do. But I know that I am decluttering the zero waste way.
I do think that we need to try and go zero waste right now. Do you think you could declutter whilst keeping as zero waste as possible? I would love to hear if you have any tips or ideas for things that you have done. Get in touch by commenting below, or finding me on social media.
See how my year of decluttering turned out here.
Why not pin this post for later?
Dear Jo,
you are a truly #zerowaste Queen.
Love from Qx
Thank you Q. x
Very nice tips. Thanks for sharing them. #PoCoLo
Thank you
This is a brilliant way to declutter. I really need to do this too but I don’t think I would be to do with zero waste like you are. I do try to donate as many items as I can. My cupboard under the stairs is so full of ‘stuff’ it really needs someone to get stuck into it #pocolo
It is very hard to be totally zero waste. But like everything as long as we do all we can, it is better than not even trying.
I love to declutter! I’m a big fan of donating items that can be reused and we have a truck that picks them up monthly if you schedule a pickup. #GlobalBlogging
That is so useful Heather! Here in the UK we have to drop them off somewhere. But TBH it isn’t much of a big deal.
The 5 bag system sounds like such a great idea. I might give it a try. I need to have a massive declutter.
Well done with your selling. It’s better to have the money than things you are not going to use.
I love the rag rug. #MMBC
My declutter is a constant work in progress. But it is so satisfying.
Such great ideas. I’ve been trying to cut down on the waste lately. 🙂
Thanks for sharing with #pocolo
Thank you!
It is great that you can sell your old clutter to someone that can reuse it and find it helpful for them X #kcacols
Looks fabulous, Jo. Aside from avoiding unnecessary plastic in the first place, it’s great to see your ideas to re-purpose items to give them a new lease of life #globalblogging
Thank you. It really is time to all start doing our bit.
Congratulations on your decluttering. I find it really cleansing when we get rid of stuff we don’t use any more.
We have concentrated on decluttering our bookshelves this year and have managed to get rid of over 200 books – we gave some to friends, some to our local library, some we will sell through an app and the others we put in a box outside the house and invited people to take what they wanted. That was great – everything went :o)
#MMBC
That is a good idea. It is so cathartic getting some clutter out of the house. Well done on getting rid of so many books. I still have a box in my attic.
I love your ideas for reusing your clutter. One persons trash is another persons treasure as they say. I need to do the declutter and then recycle wisely too. #GlobalBlogging
I guess that I am lucky that so much of my trash is reusable or can be donated.
Great post I’m in the process of doing the thing in my home and my life. I loved these ideas in this post. Must share! Great content! Love this post.
Thank you so much!
I always find a way to recycle all our waste. starting with donation first, you’d be surprised what people will take and reuse here in Dubai #pocolo
I can imagine!
Well done with your selling! I keep doing my little bit by chipping away at the decluttering, getting there slowly. 🙂 #MMBC
Thank you. It is always a work in progress is decluttering.
That’s an impressive total on eBay! Well done! #ThatFridayLinky
Thank you.
Great tips, I really need to have a good sort out, it’s been a while. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.
Thank you
A few years ago I aimed to get as rid of as many items as the year, and while it was a challenge, it was also liberating. Old towels are also useful in the greenhouse as a way of retaining water while you’re away! Thanks for sharing with #PoCoLo
Old towels have so many uses. Love the idea of using them to keep plants moist.
I’m surprised that charity shops have turned books down. The majority of my books come from them as do toys and clothes. I put my girls in second hand clothes that are in good condition and I don’t worry when they come back from preschool smeared in paint. #mmbc
Exactly, I either make or use second hand for nursery/school clothes.
I’ve been trying to do this bit by bit but really need a good old sort out of EVERYTHING! I hoard wayyyyy too many things and need to just get rid of some bits! Thank you for your 5 bag plan – looks like I will be making use of it! Also wanting to start a compost bin so any tips are most welcome!!! #KCACOLS
Sometimes the hardest bit is just starting. And I am thinking of doing a composting post soon. So watch this space!
Thank you so much for sharing about this, I’d never heard about Ziffit and we’ve got a lot of books, CDs and DVDs that I know will fetch very little as individual items so not really worth the time of creating ebay ads etc. Will give Ziffit a try I think! x #KCACOLS
It’s certainly worth trying both Ziffit and Music Magpie to see who gives you the most!
I love these ideas! Sometimes I really have a hard time throwing stuff away, but I hate clutter! LOL #KCACOLS
The zero-waste lifestyle is awesome!
Great ideas. I think this will help a lot of people out there because a disorganized, cluttered home can lead to a variety of negative health effects. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
Well done Jo for going that extra mile with recycling the items you no longer want. Yesterday I had an inspiration and stripped the base of a single bed to it’s component parts. The wood and cardboard I am able to re-use.This took time but the satisfaction was worth it. Following your example I will take another look at everything I wish to get rid of.
Thank you.