George K.
As our lives get busier and our routines get more packed, it opens up opportunities for clutter to build up in our lives. Most of us do not have the time to clear or deal with this clutter and this is why many people are being subjected to the extra stress that comes with having an untidy home. Clutter also affects the environment in different ways, and here we are going to look why this is and what you can do to reduce yours.
Climate Change
Your carbon footprint, i.e., the impact all your activities have on the environment, is a critical measure of how much good or damage you are doing to the environment. At the centre of your carbon footprint is the items we use every day. Fossil fuels are used to create the energy required by the industries that manufacture the items we use and those that we do not use – the ones that are part of the clutter. This means that if you have unnecessary items in your home, you have a larger carbon footprint than someone who does not.
Energy-efficiency
Clutter makes your home less-energy efficient because it causes both your cooling and heating systems to work harder, thereby consuming more power. Reducing the amount of clutter in your home can make your home more energy-efficient which is great for the environment.
You may even find that without so much clutter in your life, you don’t need to live in quite such a large home. Moving to a smaller home is always more energy efficient, and the less energy you use, the more the environment benefits.
Reducing Clutter: Donate or Recycle
Two of the best ways to reduce clutter include donating and recycling, Donating and recycling these items means they do not end up filling a landfill somewhere. Some of them take decades to decompose which means they will be damaging the environment for decades.
Donating also gives the items you need to get rid of additional value and can reduce the chances of someone buying a new item which would increase their carbon footprint. You can bag items up and drop them off at a charity shop.
Put What You Do Not Need in Storage
Since throwing out the items we have can be harmful to the environment, and we or anyone else might not have any use for these items right now, it is always a good idea to put anything you do not need in storage. Putting things in storage ensures you can retrieve them later if you or anyone else needs them in the future. This also ensures they do not end up in a landfill where they will eventually poison the environment.
There are lots of storage options that will help you store items like furniture when you declutter your home. The good news is that regardless of what you need to store, companies like Safestore have storage of the right size and in an ideal location for you. Safestore provides personal and household self-storage solutions so you can store what you do not need for however long you want. They also have a handy search form on their website so you can find the right personal storage unit in an ideal location.
There are lots of things that harm our environment, and clutter is one of them. From polluting the environment to increasing our carbon footprint, there are lots of reasons to reduce our clutter. Fortunately, different ways of doing so have little to no impact on the environment.
