Reduce Clutter – Limit Your Online Shopping
The holidays are a time of indulgence – we eat more, drink more, and inevitably shop more. We buy gifts for our family, friends, colleagues and clients as well for ourselves as the sales are too good to pass up. Since we can shop without even leaving home or changing out of our pajamas, we quickly fall into the trap of excess purchases which aren’t needed. The result…boxes and piles cluttering up our homes and offices as there’s barely room in our overflowing closets and drawers.
Stop accumulating excess. The convenience of online shopping is not lost on this NYC Professional Office Organizer, and we aren’t suggesting you stop altogether. There just needs to be limits. Start by making a list of what you need to buy and restricting your purchases to only what’s on your list. Be specific in the quantity that’s needed, as well. A bargain is only a bargain if you really need the item featured and have space to store it. Don’t purchase in bulk just because you can… decide what’s really needed before you hit enter.
The effects on the environment. Online retail grew by 16% last year and the unintended consequence of that is the effect on the environment. Fast Company reported that about 165 billion packages are shipped in the US each year. It takes about 1 billion trees to create the cardboard to ship that much product. And, that doesn’t take into account the amount of plastic used in the packaging. We also shouldn’t forget the accumulation of excess items that people no longer need or want that end up in landfills.
What to do with the excess. Start by immediately recycling your cardboard and packing materials that have collected. Amazon has a program where you can provide feedback on their packaging, helping them to both reduce waste and create better product packing. In addition to the packaging clutter, it’s time to deal with all those excess purchases that’s been accumulated. Keep the very few that you really need and take the rest to your local consignment shop or make a donation to a worthy organization in your area.
The important step is to put the brakes on your online shopping habits. Limiting the excess starts by setting guidelines that discourages adding random items to your cart. Focus solely on what you really need and you’ll have more time as you won’t have to deal with the resulting clutter.
For more home and office organizing strategies, reach out to this NYC Professional Office Organizer.