It's Time to Let Go of Your Landfill Anxiety

A lot of people I work with are worried about all the things that end up in landfills.

I get it. We should ALL be distressed about the amount of stuff that gets thrown away. I mention the plastic island to my children at least once a week as a means of shaming them into better buying habits, but that's another story.

Here are a few things I'd ask you to think about if you find you are frequently invoking The Landfill to excuse your hoarding tendencies.

1. Do you take things home that would otherwise be thrown away in order to "save them from the landfill"?

If so, quit it!?Making your own pile of junk larger to keep from making a public pile of junk larger? Not okay.

If your friend is about to throw away some perfectly good plastic cutlery and you're horrified at the idea of it landing at the city dump, you may take it to the thrift store. Period.

Please do not take it home to sit in a dusty drawer. This is not helpful to you or to the planet. Your Unclutter Coach decrees that you may never use this excuse again.

By holding on to useless junk you are actually moving a small piece of the landfill into your house. Not a pleasant idea.

2. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but eventually everything is going to end up at the dump.

I mean, unless it's recyclable, it's just where things go when they're all used up. I'm a huge proponent of things getting loved and used until there's not an ounce of utility left in them, but eventually it's all going to the dump.

Please consider that by "saving" things from this fate, you are really just prolonging that journey. So if you think that the macrame pot holder is somehow being spared by its sojourn on your kitchen shelf, I have bad news for you.

This might be a good time to practice acceptance. You acquired a thing, and now it's time for that thing to join its brethren in the afterlife of things.

3. Are you buying cheap stuff that's not made to last?

No judgment, it's hard to avoid and most of us are on a budget of some kind. But that plastic island doesn't have leather and cotton and ceramic in it, you know what I'm saying?

Conscious consuming is going to do way more for us and our planet than hoarding trash.

I hate that our dumps and landfills are full of cheap crap that didn't last long enough to become a treasured part of anyone's household. But please, please, don't turn a dislike of garbage into a crusade to keep everything forever.

The best thing you can do to keep the landfill hungry is BUY LESS, buy better quality, reuse, reuse, reuse. Then say a little prayer of gratitude for the stuff that has served us and move on.

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Julia Williamson is here to help you live a better life at home. It starts with decluttering! Get rid of the extra physical stuff, then move on to the relationships, activities and obligations that are weighing you down. Visit Unburdened Life?to find out how she can help you!

Need a jumpstart? Download 100 Things to Toss for, well, 100 quick ideas.