Fellow Organizer Amanda Jefferson in Philadelphia recently wrote a blog post that I immediately wanted to share with you (and add to my arsenal of questions I ask my clients). In Would you wait in line 30 minutes for that, Amanda says:

A month ago I posted two sentences author Suketu Mehta wrote at the end of his book on Bombay “Maximum City,” anticipating his return to the US:

“Surviving in a modern country involves dealing with an immense amount of paper. He who can stay on top of the paper wins.”

I really enjoy reading author/blogger Joshua Becker’s insightful Becoming Minimalist newsletters. He recently shared a post, A new planner won’t change your life. The first line stuck with me:

“One reason, I am convinced, we overspend and overbuy is because we expect too much from our purchases.”

So you’ve made some tough cuts and are finally willing to let go of what amounts to staggering tangle of old electronics. Woohoo! This is just part one though. 

It’s so easy to just load them into a contractors’ bag and drag them to the curb, especially since there’s something especially liberating about decluttering mystery cords and obsolete gadgets

Last week my mom asked me to recycle her old Christmas light strings while I was running errands at Lowe’s. I had never heard of this! I knew that Best Buy takes most electronics, but apparently Lowe’s specifically takes Christmas lights. I just dropped them off at customer service. We need to recycle these for the same reasons we recycle any LED lightbulb.

I’m idealistic enough to believe that anyone who reads George Monbiot’s The Gift of Death post will be moved, and awakened by it.  It is a sharp, yet such eloquent tirade on the impact of consumerism, specifically, cheap trinkets that only exist for a quick laugh or thrill.