Two weeks ago I  joined freecycle. Should have done it much earlier. I heard about it a few years ago through a friend of mine who, as it now turns out, is the ‘owner’ of the Sydney Central group. Other friends have been using it and rave about it. Finally, I had a customer end of last year who was using it very successfully.
You know how it is a lot of times. You decide to let go of something, it gets put in a pile or a box, then you forget about it or don’t have the time to move it OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. When I work with my clients, I always take all the stuff that might be of interest to a charity shop, but they don’t take everything.  Bulky items, stationery and toys are often left for the bin, which is sad and makes it even harder to let go.
And that’s where Anne put it onto freecycle, and it was gone three days later, to be used and hopefully loved by another family.

Here is how it works: Freecycle is a not for profit worldwide organisation. It is organised into local groups, so driving around is kept to a minimum. Their aim is to keep items out of landfill. All posts are moderated and there is a code of ethics so everyone feels safe and happy.
You can find out what regional group you would belong to here. You join through Yahoo groups and post with e mails send to your local group.
You can post things you want to get rid of, but you can also post ‘want’ items. The first things I posted where 8 unused cane garden torches – taken out of the garage during de clutter, we had a couple of weekends ago (our council clean up day is coming up). They were brand new and have been hanging around far too long. They are really not rubbish and someone picked them up and used them at a garden party (although, garden party is slightly unlikely with the weather we have been having in Sydney). I also posted a ‘want’ item, because hubby promised me to install new edging around my veggie beds for my birthday next month. Everything in the shops is just too expensive so this could be a great way to help me. He is going over to pick up some wooden planks in Leichhardt this weekend!

1. Go here and find the right region in Australia (sorry to my overseas readers – but it started in the USA so you are bound to have the same) http://www.freecycle.org/group/AU/
2. next page leads you to select a more detailed local group. You can check out what’s been posted and what’s wanted. At the bottom of that page click the ‘Join Group’ button and follow the instructions. A message will come to you to confirm your email address, then another asking for your suburb (this is to ensure you are joining the correct group)
3. once accepted into the group, you can elect to receive every post in a separate e mail, a twice daily digests, or just look it up on the site whenever you need something or feel like it.

At the moment I read the digest twice a day – . It’s an intersting read and good to know what other people post or want. We might have some of the ‘want’ items lurking in the shed or in my kids chaos(= kids bedroom)

Dear Susanne,
Thank you so much for travelling to Brisbane to help me sort out my storage units. I really couldn’t have faced it on my own and your enthusiasm and excitement from the very beginning was very infectious. The process was very satisfying, especially nearly filling a rubbish truck with “stuff” that I had been PAYING to store! Another highlight was having the driver of the charity truck THANKING me for the huge donation of goods I was just glad to be relieved of! I have continued utilising the skills I have learned at home and am, for the first time, actually enjoying tackling new areas that need “organising” without being overwhelmed by the thought of it.
I must share with you an unexpected serendipity of this process. During the sorting of papers in the storeroom I came across several warranties I hadn’t seen in four years. One was for an expensive DVD recorder that no longer recorded and the other was for a leather sofa suite that now has a tear in it. Both of these items were over five tears old but I had forgotten that at the time of purchase, I had paid extra for extended warranties and, for the sofa, a protection plan. I am pleased to report that the DVD recorder I thought I was going to have to replace, was picked up yesterday to be fixed and… today I selected my BRAND NEW leather sofa as apparently mine was faulty!
I’m thrilled with this result as well as my new found confidence and skills taught by LESSMESS.
Thanks again Susanne.
Julie-Anne

“350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.
Accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe zone at our current 390ppm, and that unless we are able to rapidly return to below 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.” http://www.350.org/about/science
Everything we buy has a carbon footprint – and it doesn’t matter whether we use it or just store it. I have written before about food wastage- which is a very obvious waste.
But what about the things we acquire and then never use, the stuff that accumulates at the bottom of the wardrobe, the shoes that don’t and never will fit? The novelty toy we bought a winging kid at a theme park? They have all cost the earth something to get produced and shipped.
Most of my clients have too much stuff (otherwise they wouldn’t be my clients) but they are still buying more. There are several reasons for that: some people can’t find what they have because of all the clutter, some people like shopping. Both categories end up having unnecessary things lying around their home, costing us dearly.
On the other hand most people nowadays are very conscious about how to dispose of their belongings – which is great. But when it comes to the carbon footprint, as soon as you buy something you are responsible for the energy it took to produce and get it to you. In regards to the carbon footprint it doesn’t matter whether you chuck it into landfill, or you have your own little “landfill” in a cupboard or in your garage.
When getting organised you will be able to find the things you have and by seeing the amount of objects you acquired over the years on shopping sprees, and realizing that it ultimately cost’s you money to get rid of them (yes, Professional Organisers do cost money – and so we should!!) maybe next time you want to buy something you just take a second to consider the impact this item will have on the environment, the global as well as your personal one (house/office) and you will find that most things don’t have to be bought in the first place.

Over the last three days I helped a client in Brisbane to get 5 m3 of rubbish out of her storage units at Kennard’s. That plus 3 m3 for charities and 2 m3 to actually take home and use.
We created a whole shelf for e bay items – including a box with packaging material and pre paid envelopes. There now is a “his” and “her” shelf a fold up table to work at and a shredder – ready to get rid of more paperwork.
She now has an inventory – which sounds more than it is: it’s a list of items they have in the store room, a description of the location and a  picture of the storeroom labeled with their items.
This morning before heading upstairs to the store cubicle I had a chat to the Kennard’s manager (who was getting increasingly suspicious of two females wheeling one trolley after the other into the loading zone – giggling and carrying on, taking photos of rubbish???!!!!!)
I told him of my opinion, that storage places shouldn’t be necessary at all – because I strongly believe, that once stuff gets into your offsite storage room, you might as well toss it straight away and save yourself some serious money. Wasn’t impressed, the manager, but my client agreed. So off we went to gather some more rubbish and do some more therapeutic shredding. Because it’s not just 3701, there is also 3704. But this client is on a roll, and I am positive I don’t have to fly to Brisbane to accomplish mission 3704

I have been rocking up at my local Salvation Army store a lot lately – so much that most of the ladies and men working there know me by now, which is nice in itself.
They are also a great help in running my business – where else would I dispose of all the goodies and treasures my customers decided to part with.
But letting go is not always everything it takes. You have to make a decision whether you could actually burden someone else with you staff. Think of the times you got something handed down from your grandmother or mother which you took on grudgingly, because you neither needed nor loved it.
So go into yourself when de cluttering make sure your stuff really is someone else’s treasure.
And just to pass on what the people at Salvos told me: “don’t bring it to us if you wouldn’t buy it off us.”

Here are a few of my favorite places to drop of things:

Fitted for work

Vinnie’s

Salvos

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