Quick Fix Friday, Apr 29 2011
Decorating and Recycle/Reuse and Tips decorate, home improvement, recycle, reuse, update 8:06 pm
My back yard cottage was in need of a facelift. I found an old window at a salvage yard and hung it like a picture. Then I added a metal sculpture, some plants, a bench and a doormat to complete the look. The window made all the difference.
BEFORE
AFTER
Get The Mess Out! Friday, Sep 24 2010
Decorating and Donating and Healthy Living and Living and Recycle/Reuse and Tips de clutter, donate, organizing, recycle, simplify 10:52 am
It happens to everyone, all of sudden you look over and you can’t see your desk anymore or your floor or the back of your closet or… and you know it’s time to tackle the mess.
I have my own system for organizing. First of all, if you feel overwhelmed you might want to get help. The other thing to do if you feel overwhelmed is to pick a small area to focus on – instead of the bookshelf do one shelf. The process works the same whether it is one shelf or an entire house.
The Steps:
- Choose your area and make some space to put sorted items. Cover as large an area as you can handle.
- Remove items starting with one area (shelf, desktop, drawer, portion of the room, etc.).
- Place the items into piles: Keep, Trash, Recycling, Donate, Unsure. The reason I do an Unsure pile is to keep down the time it takes to sort the items, for many people sorting is the hardest part. If you aren’t sure if you can give the item away then just stick the item in the Unsure pile.
- Once everything is sorted take the items from the Keep pile and place the appropriate items back in the area you have been organizing. You may have things in your Keep pile that don’t belong in the area you’re working on and those will be placed where they belong or dealt with later.
- Now the trash and recycling can be put out, and the items to be donated can be bagged or boxed and given away. See my lists of local resources for donating http://bayareaassistant.com/2010/06/25/taking-out-the-trash/ & http://bayareaassistant.com/2010/06/28/taking-out-the-trash-part-two/
- Take a look at your Unsure pile and ask yourself these questions: When was the last time I used this? How often do I use this? Will I use this? Is there a place to keep it? Would someone else be happy to have this? Now sort the items accordingly.
- Next continue to move through the rest of the clutter until you are satisfied. You can do this in small blocks of time or all at once if you are motivated. See http://bayareaassistant.com/2011/11/03/keeping-it-together/ for tips on how to store items.
Taking Out The Trash Part Two Monday, Jun 28 2010
Donating and Green and Recycle/Reuse donate, donating, green, hazardous waste, recycle, reuse 9:39 am
You find you still have old electronics, old building materials and hazardous waste to dispose of. What do you do with it? Try these options:
- Alameda County Computer, TV, VCR and Small Appliance Recycling [Website]
- Alameda County Waste Reduction & Recycling [Website]
- Appliance Recycling PG&E [Website]
- Contra Costa County Waste Reduction & Recycling [Website]
- Contra Costa Electronics Recycling [Website]
- Marin Recycling Center & Recycling Directory [Website]
- Ohmega Salvage: Buy & Sell Architectural Salvage [Website]
- Urban Ore: Buy & Sell Used Building Materials [Website]
- San Francisco Compute Recycling Center http://www.crc.org/#
- San Francisco & South Bay Computer & Electronic Recycling http://www.greencitizen.com/index.php
- San Francisco E-Waste Recycling http://www.greencitizen.com/
- San Francisco Household Hazardous Waste Facility http://sunsetscavenger.com/hazardousWasteFacility.htm
Taking Out The Trash Part One Friday, Jun 25 2010
Donating and Green and Recycle/Reuse donate, donating, green, recycle, reuse 5:59 pm
You’ve sorted, cleaned and organized and now you’re left with a pile of clothes, small appliances and furniture that isn’t garbage. What do you do with it? There are several options:
- The Salvation Army will pick-up items or you can find a drop off location near you: http://www.satruck.com/search
- Donate clothing, small appliances & furniture: http://www.goodwill.org/
- Donate Business clothes: http://www.wardrobe.org/
- Donate prom dresses: http://princessproject.org/
- Donate coats & warm jackets: http://www.onewarmcoat.org/index.php?fuseaction=event.search
- Donate bicycles in San Francisco: [Website]
- Donate bicycles in Marin: The Re-Cyclery, San Rafael, San Rafael, CA, 415-458-2986
- Donate cell phones: Green Festival 415-255-9319; Marin Abused Women’s Service (MAWS) 415.457.2464; Oakland Zoo 510-632-9525 x124
- Donate blankets & towels to animal shelters and rescue organizations. See the Tips on ‘Pets’ & ‘Pet Adoption’ for the links for the various shelters
- Post on Craigslist Free Stuff Category http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
- Post on Freecycle: a place to match your old stuff with people http://www.freecycle.org/
