Going Green

You Can Make Every Day Earth Day

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Earth Day rolls around once a year to remind us to practice the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle.  Many of us take advantage of the convenient and local events to recycle those old electronics, athletic shoes, worn out books, burnt out light bulbs, and stacks of papers that need to be shredded.

You may have been collecting and storing these items since last Earth Day. After all, you don’t want to contribute any of them to the landfills.

It is a great and noble thing to take care of our earth. But if you are using your home as a temporary trash storage area while waiting for the once a year Earth Day events then that could be a big problem.

You don’t deserve to live in a trash dump!

Take advantage of this Earth Day to gather the information about places you can take items to be recycled year round. Newspapers (online and printed) are writing articles and listing websites and local addresses at this time. Create a folder, either on the computer or paper, to keep this information.

In August, when you take advantage of the back to school sales on computers you can look up where to recycle the old one. The same with all those outgrown rubber athletic shoes. Or those burnt out CFL light bulbs.

Many stores such as Best Buy now have bins to recycle small electronics year round. I know my local city has curbside recycling plus lots of schools now have the big metal bins for recycling. I’ve even noticed ones that are for recycling old clothes.

So there are lots of places to recycle your stuff everyday and feel good about taking care of the Earth. Just make sure you take as good as care of your own home. You deserve it!

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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“Cut Out The Paper Clutter” eBook

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It’s finally arrived! The eBook “Cut Out The Paper Clutter” and it’s companion workbook are now available. You will be able to learn how to finally get control over those piles and piles of papers, magazines, junk mail, and lots more.3Debook_Clutter8 3dWorkbook_fixed5

You can read more of what’s in the books here.

Over the years I learned many ways to reduce the incoming papers. I have also learned how to keep the important papers organized. It’s taken a lot of hard work but is well worth it.

The past few months have been a real challenge for me. Due to my mother having a stoke this past May I have had to manage not only my own papers but also my mother’s papers and finances. Although she has a computer she had not set up any of her bills to be on auto-pay. Nor had she done any online banking. These are two ways to simplify bill paying plus cut down on some of the paper clutter.

I’ve slowly been setting up auto-pay on many of the monthly bills plus paying online. That reduces the checks (paper) I have to write, reduces the envelopes (paper) I have to address, plus saves money on stamps. All these steps helps me spend less time on bill paying and more time on other things.

So check out what’s in the eBook “Cut Out The Paper Clutter“. I’ve listed the table of contents so you can see the different chapters that will have solutions for your problem areas.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Everyday Is Earth Day

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Yesterday was the official Earth Day. Because it was during the week many celebrations are taking place this weekend. I’m fortunate that my city (a suburb of St. Louis) has a large event that includes recycling of electronics, athletic shoes, and even shredding of paper documents. There also is a large event taking place for the whole metropolitan area plus many other individual suburbs. I googled my city and some surrounding areas to find out the details. Try googling your city so you can take advantage of these once a year events.

Earth Day was designed to remind us at least once a year of how important it is to be considerate of the home (earth) we all share. However, we should think this way everyday of the year. After all, we want our individual homes to be clean and uncluttered, why not the larger home we all share.

There are many things each of us can do that will add up to making a big difference in the long run. In the process you might save money, create a healthier environment for you family, and simplify your life. I think those are good reasons to make some little changes.

Things I have done:

  1. Switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs where I can.
  2. Use fewer harsh chemicals for cleaning. Vinegar, baking soda, shampoo/soap, and elbow grease are safer and less expensive.
  3. Use very few harsh chemicals for landscaping. My vegetable garden is organic.
  4. Recycle as much as I can with curb side recycling plus special events. I also recycle a lot of my food scraps and yard waste in a compost pile.
  5. I use reusable water bottles around the house. I still use plastic water bottles (recycled when empty) when my husband and I take our dog for walks at a park. I’m can’t decide what kind of reusable bottle I want to buy that will be easy and light weight to carry while walking. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

These are some of the changes I have made so far. They didn’t happen all a once but a few at a time. To some people it may seem like I am doing a lot of things to be “green” while to others may think it’s barely a grain of sand.

It doesn’t matter how few things we are doing now. What’s important is to slowly keep changing our habits so we can clean and declutter our homes and the earth. Those grains of sand add up to a whole shore line.

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“To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.”
William Blake

If you have children then this site below has lots of information and fun things to do regarding Earth Day and everyday. The more the next generation learns about the earth the better they will care for it when they grow up.

http://www.planetpals.com/pp_magazine22.html

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

Cut Clutter With Scissors Facebook Page

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Administrative Professionals Day and Earth Day

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I am trying a new format with my weekly newsletter and this blog. If you have been receiving the newsletter you know that each week I give you a decluttering/organizing tip along with dates and links for events that are occurring during the current month.

The newsletter has become lengthy so I have decided to break it up. The “Cut Clutter With Scissors Newsletter” will continue to give you a weekly tip. It will be a quick read so you can easily take action on the tip.

Since this blog is named “Organize by the Month” I will be putting the dates and website links here. You can sign up on the right sidebar to receive notification of each blog post. I will also list the recent blog posts on the newsletter. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions about this change please let me know in the comment section. Thanks.

This week has two main events taking place. The first is Administrative Professionals Week/Day and the second is Earth Day. The first may or may not effect you directly but Earth Day effects all of us.

Wednesday April 21

This Wednesday, April 21, is Administrative Professionals Day. Many people remember it as Secretaries Day which was the original name. If you have someone who works for you as a secretary, administrative assistant, or by any other title be sure to recognize how much they do for you.

The whole week is designated at Administrative Professional Week so you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to celebrate it.

If you are the administrative assistant or secretary with a boss that is clueless then send him/her the links below. Unless he/she already show their appreciation on a regular basis it may be time to educate them on what this week and day is all about. After all, it’s been around for 58 years. It’s time they got with the program!

Check out these sites to give you more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_Professionals%27_Day

http://www.iaap-hq.org/newsroom/apw/index.html

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Thursday April 22

The other event taking place this week is Earth Day. The message from Earth Day applies to all of us. We live on this planet and we need to take care of it. If our homes are cluttered and filled with chemicals and other products that harm our bodies the house can become inhabitable. The same is true for the earth.

Check out the sites below to find ways you can help clean up your home while at the same time clean up the bigger home we all share – Earth.

http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/specials/articles/0,28285,1601801,00.html

http://earthday.org/

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors Be sure to follow me on Twitter for my almost daily Cut Cutter Tips.

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Earth Day – Going Green

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This week’s newsletter (if you haven’t signed up – please do so on the right sidebar) has lots of links and info to help you go green. Although Earth Day is only one day of the year we need to learn to follow it’s principles year round.

Here is a copy of this week’s newsletter so you can get all the information you need to learn how to go green.

Decluttering Tip Newsletter – Going Green
Volume 2, Issue 16
April 21, 2009

I’m sure you have heard by now that this is Earth Week and Wednesday (April 22) is Earth Day. I remember the first Earth Day in 1970 (I’m showing my age) when you heard about the smog warnings in the big cities and the polluted lakes and rivers. We’ve come a long way with those areas but the toxins in our homes and the waste we send to the landfills needs to get under control.

It is getting much easier to reduce, recycle, and reuse many items to prevent them from filling the landfill. This site has lots of ideas you can use.
http://www.earthday.gov/athome.htm

When you apply a lot of the ideas for reducing and recycling you will find that it is easier to keep your home decluttered. For example: when you use reusable fabric bags for shopping automatically there are less paper and plastic bags filling up the floor of your pantry or between the wall and the refrigerator.

When you buy and use only what you need there will be less clutter around. By using permanent things like dishes, cloth napkins (cheap washcloths work great when you have children), mugs, and durable plastic or glass containers for storage you will get in a habit of washing them so they are ready to use. You’ll save money and the landfills by not using so many disposables.

If you are trying to use healthier cleaning items, etc. in your home, here is a great website with lots of information.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-cleaning/

If you don’t have curbside recycling or don’t know of a recycling center nearby it will take a little more effort on your part to recycle. Here is a site that can help you find places near you for different things, such as papers, plastic, household, etc.
http://earth911.com/blog/2009/04/20/barriers-to-being-green-accessibility/

For electronic recycling check out these sites for a place near you.
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/live.htm
http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/recyclingcenters.php5

Remember, if you reduce the amount of products and items you bring into your home you’ll automatically reduce the amount of clutter. When you find places to recycle the old items you will be able to get rid of them and take away your excuse for not getting them out of your home.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you know who will benefit from this tip.

Be sure to check out my blog this week for more information on Earth Day. http://organizebythemonth.com

Also check me out on Twitter. http://twitter.com/jlscissors I’m starting to get the hang of it.

To a lighter load along the way.
Janice Scissors
https://cutclutterwithscissors.com
http://organizebythemonth.com
http://twitter.com/jlscissors
http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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