Have you heard of the garbage purge challenge? What happens when you throw out everything you don’t need, want, or use?
You don’t have to imagine how life-changing decluttering your home would be anymore. Join us and find out why this 30-day cleaning challenge is the refresher you need to keep moving forward.
Listen: The Garbage Purge
Watch: The Garbage Purge
Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.
What is the Garbage Purge?
What is the garbage purge, and have you ever wondered what would happen if you threw away all the things that you don’t need, want, or use?
There are lots of people that are going through their stuff. Right now, we’re at the very tail end of the COVID 2020 where we’re headed into the new year, and there are a bunch of people that want to know, “How do I get rid of my stuff?” and, “What happens if I throw my stuff away?” and, “What is the big garbage purge?”
The Garbage Purge is a 30-Day Challenge We’re On Right Now
The garbage purge is a 30-day challenge that we’re on right now. What we’re talking about is getting rid of the things that you don’t want, don’t need, and don’t use. These are things that belong to you, not your family members.
They’re your own personal possessions that you have too many of, they’re the wrong size, they’ve been hiding out in your closet for a while because you think one day they’re going to inspire you to lose weight, but they haven’t, and then you don’t wear them. You haven’t worn them in a long time. They might be perfectly good, and yet you will probably never wear or use them again.
There is probably a lot of Stuff You Don’t Want or Use
As you go through all your different cabinets, closets, bookshelves, drawers, and closets, there’s probably a lot of stuff in your house that you don’t want, don’t need, don’t use, and you’ll probably never miss it if it’s gone.
The 30-day challenge is this. Most of us have a garbage service that comes to our house like once a week, and it picks up the trash or the rubbish or the garbage or whatever you call it.
I know for me and my family, we have this great big, tall bin and it’s a big rolly tub that goes out to the side of the house. For us, we’re going through all the different rooms in our house, and we’re just loading that up until it’s full to the brim with stuff.
Some Stuff You Throw Away is Good Stuff
Now, some of it might be good stuff. I know that we threw a little magazine rack away the other day, and here’s the reason why: A magazine rack. Well, I wonder when I’m going to be buying magazines again.
The magazines we had in were a couple of years old because magazines now for us are all electronic. We said, “Please, stop the paper versions because it uses up paper. We don’t want to waste and consume the paper when we can read the content online,” so we still have the subscriptions. There is this nice, fun little magazine rack that only has one purpose, and that’s the purpose of being a magazine rack that we’re never going to use again, so we tossed it inside the trash.
Why Throw Away Some Good Stuff?
Now, the reason we tossed it inside the trash instead of sending it to Goodwill is that our thinking was we don’t want to pollute the universe with more stuff that other people are going to need. We’re guessing they don’t have any magazines either.
We’ve moved on to a digital era, so let’s throw away the magazine rack, let’s send it to the landfill, let’s get rid of it. We’re done with it. The end. It still pollutes the universe in a landfill, but it does not pollute other people’s homes, and we’re not recycling the trash.
What Outdated Stuff Do You Have in Your House?
What do you have in your house that’s old, decrepit or outdated? I know for us, one of the things we had were a lot of old electronics. Here’s the problem with the electronics: We can’t use them.
The software that is updated now for computers will never update those versions. They’re not equipped to handle the new technology. Even if it was a backup computer, backup monitor or whatever, it’s never going to be able to handle the new modern technology that we’re downloading onto new systems, and so all that stuff was able to go.
As you start being honest with yourself about the stuff you have, why did you keep it, does the need for you keeping it still exist, and can you fill it up inside your garbage can until there’s no more room in your garbage can for anything else?
This is a 30-Day Challenge to Clear Your Home
Once you fill-up the garbage can, you can stop. That’s fine. But for the next four weeks, this is a 30-day challenge, roll that garbage can out to the curb as full as it can possibly be with stuff that you no longer need, want, or use.
That is the 30-day purge challenge for you. I recommend that you do this. And we as a family are in week two of the challenge.
Tell me what you throwing away. It might trigger ideas for the rest of us going through this purge.
I’m Going Through My Books During the Challenge
For me, I’m going through the rest of my books. I have lots of books. I’m also going through my kitchen as I have lots of kitchen supplies and fun things that I no longer use.
I know one of the big things for me is sewing. I love to sew. Ever since I was a tiny child, I have loved to sew. I love to design my own clothing, but the reality is most of the clothing I wear right now is the same thing and I don’t see it changing any time soon.
So, the fabric that I have, it’s got to go. All of the bobbins of thread and the spools that go on the sewing machine all have to go. I hate to throw those away so, I’ll probably donate them to a craft center where somebody can use the fabric, bobbins, thread, the Stitch Witchery, patterns and all that stuff because they’re all perfectly good.
I just won’t be using them for myself. As you go through, what is it that you no longer need, want, or use, that you can fill up in the curb and you can send it off on its way for the next 30 days?
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