Let’s face it, it’s completely normal to accumulate random junk over the years, and as time goes by, you simply either forget about it or purposely won’t throw it away in fear of needing it in the future. This leads to compiling a lot of unnecessary stuff that you simply don’t know what to do with, especially when the cluttering becomes so bad that the home itself loses its practicality! You want to move freely within your property, but piles and piles of things just get in the way! With that being said, your best bet would be making a strategy, a good cleaning plan that will little by little help you clear out your home. Here are some effective tips that will help you handle large amounts of trash and junk on your property!
Declutter
Your first job should be getting ready to throw away loads of things – and this is done by sorting them properly! You can do this by dividing the job by rooms, or the purpose of the items, that way you can throw them away little by little, or room by room. You don’t want to get overwhelmed and cause more cuscus than it already is! And another good piece of advice is not just storing the things from your home outside, in your garage, or similar, but rather throwing it away or discarding it another way. By getting a storage container and ‘’hiding’’ the junk, simply won’t do the job in the long run! All you’ll end up doing is running from the problem instead of solving it, so take it slow but do it correctly!
Recycle
You’ve probably heard this a million times, but for all the right reasons – recycling is extremely important! This is crucial if you want to properly get rid of junk, but also fasten the overall process! By sorting out your trash and compiling it into sections, plastic, paper, glass, metal, and other recyclable and nonrecyclable materials – you’ll have a clear view of all the things you have. For instance, start with paper, find all the old newspapers, notebooks, flyers, and posters around your home and property, and get rid of them by recycling, obviously! When you get done with that segment, go on to another one – start by getting rid of all your glass, then metal, and so on and so forth, This will help you get things done and be better at organizing. When dealing with a big mess, it’s best to have a good strategy from the get-go!
Call a professional
Some things are always better left to professionals, especially when dealing with things that can impact your life and the environment! So if you have loads of old electronics lying around in your home or on your property, why hold on to it? But, before you jump out and start throwing old computers, cellphones, and TVs into the trash, you might want to reconsider! There are a lot of companies that will gladly take your old electronics and recycle them the right way, come might even offer to pay you to get them! So if you are afraid to throw away a gadget, before you do anything, try to find a local service that can deal with it instead. The same goes for old cars and bulky car parts – there are people who will get rid of them for you!
Cleaning service
Another great option that’s at your disposal is to hire a cleaning service. Regardless if you are in fact dealing with something like bulky and big items or just loads of extremely dirty and gross junk, you can always get someone else to do it for you, especially if you don’t have the ability to do it yourself. Many people opt for just letting the trach accumulate and not dealing with it on time, simply because they aren’t physically able to or don’t have the time to commit to cleaning. A good cleaning service will come to your property, in full gear, and do the job for you, sure it’s a bit costly but it is extremely effective at the end of the day!
Get a big container
Regardless if you are dealing with a mountain of small things or if you are getting rid of big and bulky things, it’s a good idea to get a pickup truck or a container! The good thing about these containers is that you can fill them up with whatever you want, no matter how small or how large the items might be – making it a lot easier to deal with things. As Mobile Skips states, it’s all about being efficient, both time and energy vise, by getting a container you can just fill it up and pay a service to deal with the junk. This way you don’t have to stress about the environmental side of things, while still getting rid of junk the fastest way possible!
Sell stuff
There is a good reason why people like to say ‘one man’s trash, another man’s treasure’, and you can totally take this to your advantage! If you have a lot of so-called junk on your property, but you aren’t sure if you want to throw it away or not – why not sell them instead? There are so many ways you can go about this, but the best thing is just sorting out what’s worth or selling and what’s going straight to the bin! This is also a great way to earn a bit of money, so why not turn junk into gold? You can sell stuff in many different ways, it all depends on how much stuff you want to get rid of and how big they are!
Online
Selling stuff online is probably the easiest thing you can do, regardless if it’s something big or small, and on top of that, you’ll find potential buyers easier this way! You can go the basic route, by using Facebook groups or the good ol’ craigslist – even if the so-called junk is pretty obscure, you never know who might want it! You can even sell large amounts of papers and glass – some poor art students might need them for a project or something! By making an ad and putting your things out there, no matter how ridiculous they might be, someone can see it and actually be interested, even if it’s actual junk – people buy things to recycle them themselves for various reasons! At the end of the day, it doesn’t hurt to try to sell your junk, and handle it this way!
Garage sale
Another clever thing you can do is organize a yard sale! Depending on how large your property is, and what kind of things you are keeping on it – you can organize a pretty neat yard sale and get rid of some of your stuff that way! Another clever way to make money while simultaneously getting rid of useless things, smart right? This is especially good if you have bulky things like furniture, or even cars and motorcycles – you can have people come to pick it up and buy it on the spot! No need to get your hands dirty, and on top of that you’ll get money! Garage sales are also great if you want to sell things in bulk, even junk – as long as you sort through and have already formed piles of particular items, you can totally sell them to someone who’s interested!
Upcycle things
Sometimes, junk is simply junk, but in other times you can actually save it and make something practical out of it! Starting from easily recyclable things such as glass – if you have a large number of glass bottles on your property, you can get them melted and transform into something more useful! Repurposing and recycling junk is a great idea if you have tie time and the means to do it! But it’s important to distinctly identify trash from actually valuable things that can be saved with a little bit of work! It’s better if you have a bigger amount of one thing like glass, paper or metal – so you can easily flip it and use it to make something! The important takeaway is that you should mostly opt for discarding unnecessary junk, but some junk can be saved and repurposed!
Composting is key
Have a big property with lots of plants and animals, that simultaneously produce a lot of waste? Say less, composting is a great way to get rid of organic junk such as leftover food, food scraps, plants, and leaves you would usually throw away! Why waste time and energy on putting leaves in giant plastic bags and throwing them away, when you can kill two birds with one stone by mixing them with your food waste and creating compost! This is 100% an efficient way to fasten the decay of leaves, and also help you get rid of food you don’t want to eat! No more running around the property with your leaves blower when you can do it the correct way and help out the environment while you are at it!
Focus on unusable items
When thinking about junk, oftentimes you think about the leftover food, plastic, and other household waste that’s accumulated each day, but it’s actually other things as well. People tend to keep things even if they don’t need them anymore, in fear of possibly needing them in the future. It’s just human nature! But this can cause so many problems and make even more trash in your home. So with that being said, you need to focus on all the things you simply don’t need, by getting rid of them first, it will be easier to handle the rest of the property! Discard all the things you know for sure you don’t need and after that move on decluttering the rest of the stuff you aren’t sure what to do with! It’s all about doing things correctly, not being overwhelmed by the lack of time and energy – but if you work smart, you can start seeing instant results!
Replace your junk with good stuff
Once and for all, you should replace all your plastic items with reusable, organic items or even self-decomposing ones. That way, even if you do end up throwing it away, or placing it in a natural environment, it can dispose of itself! By getting rid of plastic, preferably by recycling it, and replacing those items with biodegradable materials is the best thing you can do – both for your current situation and the future! It’s all about being efficient and thinking about the environment, this way you can make it easier for yourself in the future!
Donate clothes
Clothes are often just one of those things that end up stored away in boxes and totally forgotten, this can cause serious clutter and buildup around the house! It’s hard to give up clothes, regardless if they are worn out and old, or if it’s something you wore once or twice – it’s still better to let it go. There are so many people in the world who need those clothes and could get good use out of them, instead of letting the clothes collect dust in your wardrobe or basement. Start with forming two piles – one with clothes that are in decent shape, one with clothes that are too worn out and ripped, give the decent clothes to charity and donate them to those who are in need. This way you’ll be killing two birds with one stone – you’ll get rid of a lot of stuff while not directly throwing it away and causing waste!
At the end of the day, it all depends on the severity of your situation and the size of your property – if you have a small loft, chances are you can’t accumulate that much garbage and can deal with it more or less easily, but if you live in a huge property, chances are you have stuff lying around left and right. But don’t let that discourage you, you should never let things get bad and take control – you should solve the problem by finding the best possible solution! Start small, it can be stressful to get rid of junk, due to many reasons, time, ability, sentiment, all of those things might prevent you from letting go of items, but they shouldn’t!