Tag Archive for: reduce

Conscious Donation and Goodwill Industries

Many thanks to industy leader Lorie Marrerro as a cheerleader, educator and spokesperson for Goodwill.  Not only does Lorie challenge us to join her in a new movement of Conscious Donation, Lorie also shares with us information on what to donate.  My clients often ask me how to determine what to “bless others with”.  I encourage reuse of most items, except in the case of damaged or broken items. But even the smallest of items can be used by others.  

Lorie wants to “create a culture of Conscious Donation, and have people consider where they are making their donations of belongings as carefully as they would consider where they are making a financial donation.”  Going beyond an aweness, we want to be mindful of how our donations can make a huge difference locally.   For Goodwill, your donations create jobs.   Goodwill’s Job Connection Centers serve individuals who are unemployed or underemployed and are ready, willing and able to be productive citizens in meaningful, self-fulfilling jobs.

 In this post by Lorie, she shares what Goodwill takes.  These also apply to other donation resources. 

http://www.clutterdietblog.com/2010/07/donating-dos-and-donts.html

Another part of the Goodwill donation site is the donation calculator.  See what your donations do for people!

http://donate.goodwill.org/

So won’t you join us in conscious donation?  I am committed to it!

Green Organizing Baby Steps

Reduce, reuse and recycle are the buzz words for all of us.   Everyone is recycling these days! It is no longer just a trend.  It is what we are focusing on as we are all away of the limited resources and overconsumption.  How do we take this to the next step in green organizing? Here are a few baby steps for being even more environmentally friendly.

Set up your command center with a recycling bin right there.  How easy this makes recycling!  Have a paper and a shred bin right at that spot.  

Turn off your computer each night and lights during the day.  Save energy and money!  Check out this site for the costs and savings.  Thanks to the www.simpledollar.com for this enlightening post!

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/18/how-much-money-does-turning-off-the-lights-really-save/

Wash laundry with full loads of clothes. Using this sorter, you can see when it is time to do a load.  This keeps the load together, ready to go.  http://www.containerstore.com/shop/laundry/hampers?productId=10000486

Establish a regular routine for recycling.  Have a bin for plastic, a space for paper, and a garbage can for aluminum.  Set these up in the garage right near the door.  Take your recycling out to the curb or to the center weekly.  

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=14458&f=34415

Eliminate electronics and make money too! Here are several resources for selling electronics.

www.gazelle.com

www.buymytronics.com

www.myboneyard.com

www.mygreenelectronics.com

What baby steps are you taking for green organizing?