As part of my "A Thing A day" today, I tossed a jar of lotion and one of "icy hot" (a muscle balm).
Both of these items are in plastic containers, which I just tossed in the trash as cleaning them out for the recycling bin would be a messy annd time-consuming job.
Has anyone else felt this way when they were decluttering?
Yes. I'd bet we've all done similar. Make up for it in other ways now so you feel better.
YES! I feel bad whenever I throw something recyclable away in the trash. But at the same time I don't want to waste my time doing some things. I think its more likely I would set the items aside to clean later and never get around to it and just throw them away anyway. I just use it as a lesson learned and I am more careful about what products I buy b/c I don't want to feel guilty about not using it and then throwing it in the trash later.
ditto what charmed 2482 said.
I know how you feel. I feel guilt a lot about this, too.
I will tell you something that helps me feel better about this sort of thing. Anything greasy like that is going to take twice as much water to clean out the item to recycle it. So, you are saving a little water by not trying to clean it.
My house is in such bad shape, that if I were to try to set up a full recycling program, I would just get stuck and end up in a worse position than I am in already. On a hoarders type website, I read about the concept of amnesty. They tell new people who are starting to get their lives in control that while they are clearing out the mess, they have amnesty to get rid of any and everything in the most convenient way possible -- they do NOT have to find the perfect home for anything, whether it be recylcing, trash, donation, giving to relatives, etc etc. So right now, I give myself amnesty for EVERYTHING -- I do put usable things into a donation bag, and there are a few things that I am usually but not perfectly good about recycling, but most of the rest goes into the trash. Me living in a pigsty is not going to save the world. And ultimately, when things are like this, I end up buying more consumer goods than I would if the house were tidy, clean and organized. Extra scissors. Extra paper. Extra clothes. Extra shoes (because I KNOW there's a pair of size whatever boots to hand down to the next kid, but I can't find them). Things that get ruined and need to be replaced because they weren't taken care of properly. Laundry that gets washed more than once because it fell off the clean pile and got mixed up with the dirty stuff. So while I do feel a little guilty, I feel worse about how the house is right now, and I figure it will be a greater good to get to a point where I don't have so much waste going on here than to let it all fall apart worse because I overwhelmed myself trying to be perfect right now.
I feel guilty all the time about throwing things in the trash. I recycle everything I possibly can but hate when plastic of any kind goes in the trash. I totally know the feeling!
Doesn't tend to be an issue. I put almost everything recyclable into the recycling. I'm known to put scraps of paper 1x2 inches in there. I pick what others put into the trash can out and put it into the recycling, too. I even toss toilet paper tubes into the recycling...
Margaret, I agree...if in a crisis situation, the decluttering rules may temporarily change.
I am decluttering and combining two households. Today I tossed a pair of old beaters from a mixer, because the mixer motor was weak and shorted out. I did keep the metal mixing bowls for baking.
I really hate having to put plastics in the trash.
Margaret, I totally go with the amnesty thing - you're absolutely right, and part of the process of decluttering is that you gradually reduce how much you're buying in the first place.
It's different where I am - I did two big cleaning waves (the problem areas were our attic and garage, I rented a dumpster and sent out ultimatums to everyone who'd ever lived here). I still hit pockets that need urgent cleaning out - my guest room is fully functional for a weekend stay, but I have a month-long guest right now and I am frantically cleaning off the shelves when I have a few minutes, because she has no place to put her clothes or toiletries :(
But I'm just improving little bits around the edges, not hauling myself out of the slough of despair. It's a totally different thing.
Rozzie, I do the same thing with the empty toilet paper rolls and the small pieces of paper! If it can be recycled, it goes into the bag :o)
yup, I recycle every scrap of paper too, but on the other hand I don't stress over not being able to find the perfect home for every piece of garbage. I do what I can, which is considerable, then the rest is as it is.
I only feel guilty if I am lazily NOT doing what I know I can do.
PandP I know what you mean. Sometimes I do the half hearted attempt by placing them next to the sink to wash with our other items. 8/10 usually is the result.
What I lament over but do it OVER and OVER again.... throwing away our PEANUT BUTTER jars. Doesn't make a difference if plastic or glass. It is just a big mess. Under running water does not do much. The green scotch pad seems to never be the same and gets tossed. If I use a washcloth well I hate washing it with other things when full of peanut whatever. I'd rather do a molasses jar!
;)
Mid America Mom
@ Mid America Mom: if you have a dog and a _plastic_ glass- give it to your dog- dogs LOVE peanut butter and will clean the "glass" better then you can imagine ;) alternative: put HOT water in the glass (half full or less) add dish soap and SHAKE it. shaking in combination with hot water and dish soap helps with a lot of greasy things.
I agree on the peanut butter, I often throw tham away as well, in the past I attempted to clean them for recycling, but I always ended up using so much water and soap and such that I felt like the environmental impact of cleaning it over throwing it in the landfill was probably pretty much the same. I still feel guilty over it every time, but I also feel guilty when I hear my idle boiler clicking on because I've been running the tap for 5 minutes trying to clean the darn thing. And I know what you mean, Mid American Mom, whatever you end up using to clean it, THAT ends up neading to be cleaned as well, the green pads need extra suds and boiling water just to stop them smelling like peanut butter. The effort required is just TOO MUCH, it doesn't seem worth it.
I also feel guilt over the tiny pots they sell over here that are glass and contain whole grain pepper, with a plastic lid that grates the pepper. I'd love to recycle both the glass and the plastic, but the last time I tried it took me a good 15 minutes to attempt to remove the plastic top from the glass bottom, the time before, I actually shattered the glass somewhat and cut myself. Once every month or two, one of those goes straight in the bin. I feel bad about it, but not bad enough to try again.
I DO recycle toilet rolls, though, and pretty much any other scrap of paper. The rolls sometimes go to my kids' school for craft projects, or otherwise they get flattened and thrown in with the paper,
What Mimi said about peanut butter - what I usually do is, when I'm done doing a load of dishes I pour the dirty, soapy water into the peanut butter jar, screw the lid on, and shake it. It takes 2-3 shakes to get most of the peanut butter out, then I can wash it with clean water & new detergent. It's harder than cleaning molasses because it's oil-based, you need harsh detergent (like Dawn) and hot water. Molasses dissolves with just water.
But mostly I solved the peanut butter problem by moving to 5# tubs of peanut butter. We go through about one every 4-6 months. The plastic tubs are nice to reuse (I have a couple in use now - guinea pig pellets, bulk oatmeal, birdseed) but I have only accumulated 3 of them in a year so they aren't such a big deal.
My boyfriend has been making his own peanut butter. He just buys a jar of roasted peanuts(I think they are roasted, I know they don't have shells) and puts them in the blender with either some olive oil or peanut oil and some honey and blends it up. Its crunchy and tastes fantastic. I think that's all he does,but I could be missing an ingredient. I think he does this to avoid all the sodium in regular peanut butter even though we usually buy the natural kind. we also just boil fresh mushrooms in some broth instead of using the canned ones b/c he can't get ones that are sodium free anymore.
You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.
