A common concern clients often have is letting go of an item that is clutter for them (unwanted, unused, unloved) but that they don't want to throw in landfill. And they just don't know what to do with it. So they hang on.
Finding perfect new homes for someone's clutter is a favourite aspect of my work as a Clutter Consultant. Who said "one person's trash is another's treasure"? They were right. When I find a perfect match I feel like clapping my hands and jumping up and down with glee. I'd like to share a few of those moments with you.
A 92 year old client, so sweet and gracious, had a photo taken at the 12th Annual Picnic or the Winnipeg Electric Railway Old Timers at Selkirk, Manitoba in 1921. She was 9 years old when she attended the picnic with her family. She could identify about six family members in the photo, which was 48" by 4 1/2". Being from Manitoba myself, I really wanted to find an appropriate home for the photo. I had heard about the Manitoba archives so I contacted them. They were prepared to keep the photo in their temperature and moisture controlled storage, for researchers to access. I was so pleased to deliver the photo personally a month later on a trip to visit my family. I wasn't sure who was more please, myself or my client.
Recently, another client had an unopened package of letterhead with matching envelopes. She liked the beach theme, but not the crab in the corner. I offered to take it to a destination wedding planner I know, Bobbi-Jo Roback, who could incorporate the stationary in her marketing and promos. It turned out to be exactly the same stationary Bobbi-Jo and her fiance used for their wedding invitations three years previously. She was delighted. Coincidental? Yes. And perfect.
Another client was going through a difficult transition of moving from her large family home to a retirement condo. Her budget was limited so she didn't want to throw out her bookshelves or donate them. I asked another client who needed storage in her workplace if she was interested in purchasing an economically priced bookshelf. She was. The neat thing was the bookshelf that the elderly client no longer needed ended up holding books for children. It was like a perfect cycle completed.
Is it any wonder I get a good feeling helping folks find homes for their things?
The stories could go on and on: a birdhouse from Vancouver's Westside was donated to Pooh Corner Daycare in Stanley Park, a handyman gift card won by one client was donated to a senior's fundraiser for their silent auction, a tuxedo from a retired gentleman went to a youth supporting Covenant House, oversized platters which had been a wedding gift but became clutter after the divorce (from someone who shall remain nameless but happens to be writing this column) went to my favourite caterer. See, it works! Even for me.
Finding a way to re-use, re-purpose, re-gift an item, can save landfill space, lessens our impact on the environment, can be a gift for a stranger, bring the oddest people together, and simply feels good!
Do you have items you no longer want but can't bring yourself to throw out? Remember Goodbye Clutter! because we make room for what matters!
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