Comments on: 101 Physical Things That Can Be Reduced In Your Home

By: Joyce

Joyce — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:47:45 +0000

I am downsizing – have to do it sooner or later- especially once the Christmas decor has been put away. I need more space, so the obvious answer is to give away with extra items that I’m really not using. Back to the basics…think of the Japanese and how uncluttered their environments are! Thanks for all of your suggestions.

By: maggie

maggie — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:30:22 +0000

donating is by far superior to to tossing or throwing away. many thrift stores will send unuseable clothing to fiber recyclers – for example, our attic insulation is made from recycled denim. in our downsizing we were surprised to find that we’d ended up with several thousand dollars in tax deductions from our charitable donations. the Salvation Army has a good value estimator for donated goods, as does It’s Deductable (a Turbo Tax-affiliated site). even building materials can be donated to organizations like Habitat For Humanity. wherever you donate make sure you itemize and declare the value for each item on your receipt (advice from a tax-preparer friend).

By: annuschka1@gmx.at

annuschka1@gmx.at — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:47:22 +0000

Of course you can remove all that stuff…but than you are also removing your history and your life. never remove pictures, put them in a box if you dont want to see them right now.

By: 3bagsfull

3bagsfull — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:25:57 +0000

going to work on glassware, tupperware and magazines today. That alone will empty at least half my house :)

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:00:12 +0000

My daughter sent me this site to check out the list. I immediately printed it out. I have started removing things that I do not use and I can get money by selling it. Specially now that a community sale is taking place. Now I want to get rid of everything that I do not want to stay even with the sofa I am sitting on. I want such a clean start that I want to start from zero. Let me see how many things I sell, what goes to the waste basket, and what to the goodwill. — Awesome List!!!

By: Eva

Eva — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:58:36 +0000

Dear Minimalists,

I would like to ask you if there are any of you living in the UK?, preferably in London.

For my MA study photography, I would like to meet some people that changed their surrounding in; ‘as less objects as possible.’

My MA research is about objects and the relation we have with them.
Can anybody help with some contacts that would be interested in this photography project?

Thank you,
Best greetings
Eva

By: Resolved to reduce « RazNoggle

Resolved to reduce « RazNoggle — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:11:16 +0000

[...] I have been doing some of it already. BUT this is a resolve to take it to a new level. I ran across this post when I was reading things about “minimalism,” and it re-inspired me to get rid of more stuff! I [...]

By: Not Naught « Not Molly

Not Naught « Not Molly — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:12:07 +0000

[...] 101 Things That Can Be Reduced [...]

By: MissMinimal!

MissMinimal! — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:51:25 +0000

1. Glassware: My mother has too much of this, I have been pushing her to throw a few mugs away because we have so many mugs but we only use about 3-4 of them everyday.
2. Cookbooks: It’s better to just not use them. Yes, a nice recipe would be great once in a while, but you can find a lot of great recipes online, and cookbooks are expensive and take up space. Sometimes, they also require extra ingredients you may not have and you’d have to stock up more on things you originally did not need.
3. Kitchen gadgets: Forget the apple slicer and just slice your own apples! I found it to be easier.
7. Tupperware: Stop keeping the ones you get from take-out!
9. Magazines: Stop keeping magazines just because they are pretty!
11. Books: Toss old books away or sell them!
13. Make-up: Stick with one eyeliner and colors that work with every outfit.
18. Photos: just store them in photo boxes. Hanging pictures tend to make a room look messier.
22. Scrap-booking supplies: I got rid of all my scrapbooking supplies. Turns out that I did it only because I wanted my work to look like those I see online, rather than just preserving memories. Just keep photos with notes behind it.
23. CD’s & DVD’s: We tossed all the CDs. We now have too many DVDs.. switch to netflix and don’t let the DVDs pile up.
25. Decorative items, candles, figurines, crystals, vases: if you must, keep 1-2 vases. If you light candles, have only a few. Everything else just attracts more dust and take up room.
30. Audio/visual components/Audio/visual cables: I just stick with my laptop for audio and visual entertainment.
32. Computer equipment: stick with a laptop if you want to reduce the clutter and hassle of handling wires and having a computer desk.
38. Shirts / shorts/PantsCoats/Dresses/Hats/Clothes hangers/Shoes/Winter gear/Jewelry/Purses: Stick to a few outfits that can mix and match. The most of any clothing one should have is undergarments and socks.
58. Home office supplies: keep only the basics you may need.
86. Baby supplies: Babies only need your love and attention, not the latest gadgets.
94. Plastic toys: Buy sturdy wooden blocks, or painted ones (safe material) and avoid cheap plastic toys. Avoid going to toy sections or toy stores with your children and teach them to be creative with blocks.
97. Soda/Alcohol/Processed foods: a lot of this stuff are empty calories.. switch to water and drink soda and alcohol occasionally. Always find food that is least processed.

By: Jennia Hart

Jennia Hart — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:36:43 +0000

You should add that many of these things can be donated and written off as a tax deduction or given away through your network of friends or Freecycle.org

I like the minimalist idea but I want to keep it green, too!!!