Living Lightly

Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantly

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365+#209: Covid Holy Week at Home

April 6, 2020 3 comments

So much has changed since Covid-19 has taken over the world. My Lenten commitments seem almost frivolous or irrelevant in the face of deaths, lay-offs, and closings, but here’s the skinny on them:
1. Eat a vegetarian diet – continues, but with more appreciation of grocery workers & farmers
2. Avoid single use plastics – It’s complicated. In order to support small businesses, we purchased a couple carry-out meals, but that included plastic trays.
3. Use more public transportation – ≠ social distancing, but I’m not going out much anyway.
4. Interact more directly with people in need – Continue to give grocery gift card. Dropped off food to the local Catholic Worker house instead of eating with the guests.
5. Continue to prune more stuff from my home – With meetings cancelled, I took time to clean house. This included long needed dusting which uncovered more than dust: extra necklaces, holey socks finally got darned, floors got cleaned, and windows washed.

But Lent has grown beyond my initial commitments. Physical social distancing created space for more physical activity like walking to the grocery store, longer bike rides, and gardening.

And now, of course, as Christians embark on Holy Week (Jews celebrate Passover, Muslims observe Ramadan…) my thoughts turn to how do these religious feasts which are usually commemorated in churches, temples, and mosques square with social distancing. Beyond live streaming religious services, what’s a person of faith to do?

Since my background is in Catholic Family Ministry and our own family has experimented with many ways of doing “church at home” I offer these ways to bring religion home which I recently sent out to people getting my weekly Parenting Pointers around the USA.

Check out CORONAVIRUS AS OPPORTUNITY – Holy Week 2020
It includes a
• Home ritual for any time in Holy Week (From Where I Sit)
• Holy Thursday Foot Washing basic service
• Holy Thursday – Marianist Family Retreat Center Footwashing Service
• Family Meditations for the Stations of the Cross
• Stations of the Cross with a social justice perspective
• Easter morning 15th Station.
(You might wake early and do this last one outside at “sonrise.”)

Days 365+

365+#208: Covid-19 Changes All

March 20, 2020 3 comments

About 2 weeks ago the world started to change for me. With news of the coronavirus spreading, the cancellations started pouring in. First it was Cincinnati’s annual dance extravaganza, PigTown Fling, then the NCAA basketball tournament. These were sad but not life changing. Then meetings and talks I had scheduled started to be cancelled. Too bad, but it opened up some free time and I wrote an article titled Cancellations – The Gift of Time: What to do when Work, School, Church, Events, or Trips are cancelled? I also distributed a Coronavirus Pandemic Prayer to help put our current life trials in perspective.

But then the whole social distancing thing started to impact my daily life. Schools closed, places of worship cancelled services, businesses closed, and Covid-19 news dominated the airwaves more than politics. (Maybe the latter was a blessing.J)

My Lenten resolves took on a different face.
1. Eat a vegetarian diet – OK, that could pretty easily continue.
2. Avoid single use plastics – This also could continue since I didn’t need any.
3. Use more public transportation – I had already charted some bus routes but buses aren’t social distance friendly. It wasn’t essential. I’m dropping this for now.
4. Interact more directly with people in need – My weekly tutoring was cancelled (social distancing). I did continue to give out grocery gift cards to panhandlers though.
5. Continue to prune more stuff from my home – OK, I could still do this. A stranger took the desk chair that I put out on the sidewalk last week and I gave several reams of 3 hole paper to our son who was preparing take home packets for his inner-city school students.
But distribution was a problem for the blankets and stuffed animals I had collected. The homeless shelters said they were either closed or only took new blankets because of bed bugs.
However it is spring and I have a plethora of daffodils so I distributed flowers as a sign of hope to four neighbors.

So, in addition to minding my diet and looking for more things to give away, I decided to try two new environmental purchases.
Vogt tested SO YOU WON’T HAVE TO:
1. Tru Earth – Eco-strips for laundry detergent.
The eco value of these paper-like strips is that you avoid the plastic jug and the weight of transporting it to stores. But I wanted to test it out first to make sure it actually did an adequate job of cleaning clothes. The cheapest place to order 32 loads from was Amazon for $15. It worked, BUT it came in a plastic bubble wrap envelope which seemed to defeat the eco purpose. Once I knew it cleaned clothes well, I went directly to the Tru Earth distributor and signed up to the bi-monthly shipment which comes in a simple cardboard container. Total cost for the same 32 loads is only $13.00.

2. HelloTushy – a bidet like toilet attachment
I thought the eco-value of this bidet would be the elimination of toilet paper. (With toilet paper flying off store shelves these days, that’s a bonus.) Well, without giving you TMI, I can say that it doesn’t eliminate the need for toilet paper since you probably still want to pat yourself dry but it does reduce toilet paper – about 50% in my experience. Both my husband and I are very happy with the Tushy Classic bidet but it took me 1½ hr. to install it rather than the 10 they claim. It cost $79. It’ll take a while to break even. Contact me if you want more information.

BONUS – Does dusting count as getting rid of something? I’ve got some time. I’m counting it.

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365+#207: 1st 2 Weeks of Justice

March 11, 2020 1 comment

Now that ⅓ of Lent is over here are my successes, failures, and 4 lessons I’ve learned. My commitment was to do a daily act of kindness to another person, creation, or myself, i.e Just Kindness. I organized my actions into the following categories. Here’s what happened:

  1. Eat a vegetarian diet – This was successful but too easy since we normally only have a couple meat dinners a week anyway. For lunch I often have a lunch meat sandwich so I just substituted a veggie sandwich or ate leftovers. However, one evening we ate dinner at a friend’s house and they served a meat main dish. It would have been rude (unkind) to refuse it. No problem. In my head I just swapped a Sunday meatless meal for this one.
  2. Avoid single use plastics – I thought this would also be easy since I carry my own water bottle, reusable spork silverware, etc. BUT, we hosted a meal for 12 people and used Chinese carry out for simplicity. I specified no silverware, napkins, or other disposable products, but the main dishes came in plastic containers (thankfully not Styrofoam). Some took their leftovers home in them but I had a few extras. Hmmm. One other time I ate out and I wanted to take the extra home. No problem, I would just get my reusable plastic carryout container from the car. BUT… I hadn’t driven. I sucked it up and ate all of the food. Does this count as gluttony? 🙁  (Click on photo to enlarge and see single use plastics collected before Lent began.)
  3. Use more public transportation – I knew this would be hard since it would take researching the bus schedule and more time. I did take the bus once because the event was not time sensitive. I avoided several other opportunities because it would involve a transfer and I was pressed for time. I tried to be present to the people on the bus and contemplate what their lives might be like. One woman had two small children and several bags of groceries. Now that’s heroism. I biked to one nearby destination rather than take the car.
  4. Interact more directly with people in need – On Wednesdays, I tutor several first graders in a low income school. It was harder than I expected to keep them attentive. I’m learning a lot about early childhood education challenges and developing great admiration for the teachers that do this every day. I donated Kroger gift cards to 3 panhandlers I passed.
  5. Continue to prune more stuff from my home – On most days I took the time to look for things around the house that I no longer needed. This included an extra sun hat, old meditation booklets, a necklace, a large hot pad, a desk chair, ream of 3-hole paper, and a small boom box.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1.  Grocery shopping is a challenge. I’ve reduced but not eliminated clam-shells. (Click on photo to see clam-shells since Lent began)
2. Don’t be pure, but make progress. Once I planned on buying grapes but realized they only came in plastic bags. Well that’s better than a clam-shell and at least I can recycle the plastic bags at Krogers. Carry-out plastics are better than Styrofoam. Being a grateful guest is more important than skipping a meat dish.
3. Let hunger and inconvenience be my friend. I was surprised that on a number of days I felt hungry. Eating vegetarian didn’t mean I had to eat less so I was mystified by my hunger. I decided to let my physical hunger put me in solidarity with those who are hungry because of poverty. My bus ride heightened my compassion for those who don’t have another option.
4. Choosing what to give away is easier than finding a good home for it. I still haven’t found a home for my chair, boom box, or other items. For now I’ve just put them in the give away box. It’s hard to find a good home. 🙂

Being Kind, Days 365+ ,

365+#206: 40 Days of Just Kindness

February 24, 2020 2 comments

I’ve spent a week pondering how to make this coming Lent count. It has not been a quick or easy discernment. (That’s why last week’s blog was on 6 simple environmental tips. I wanted to share simple stuff before starting on a more rigorous routine.) Are you ready for Lent 2020?

In addition to my usual Lenten commitment of skipping deserts, I ended up with 5 actions I wanted to take to become a better person.
1. Eat a vegetarian diet
2. Avoid single use plastics
3. Use more public transportation
4. Interact more directly with people in need
5. Continue to prune more stuff from my home
My hope was that the above actions would deepen me spiritually by focusing on others and reducing pride.

However, I wasn’t sure how to keep all these grand goals in focus so they didn’t just fade away. The ideas were broad and often unrelated. (The first 3 connected to my environmental commitment, #4 connected with my desire to serve the poor, and #5 was a realization that I still have stuff that I don’t need. When I die someone else is going to have to go through my stuff and memorabilia. I needed a unifying principle.

I’ve always been fond of Micah 6:8: “To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”
My tweak is: DO A DAILY ACT OF KINDNESS TO ANOTHER PERSON, CREATION, MYSELF
– In short: Just Kindness. That’s my vision.
Now I need a plan for how to do at least one act of justice or kindness a day for 40 days.
1. Eat a vegetarian diet: I typically eat a meat sandwich for lunch. That shouldn’t be hard to change. For dinner we only have meat once or twice a week. No problem, EXCEPT that Jim is usually the cook. I’m in negotiation with him but I can commit to most of the 40 days.
2. Avoid single use plastics: Because Jim cooks he usually does most of the grocery shopping. Yesterday I had to pick up a few extras and was amazed at how hard it was to avoid plastic wrapping or containers. This will be a challenge but “avoid” is the key word here. I’m not trying for 100%, just trying to reduce. How low can I go? Click here for video clips about plastics.
3. Use more public transportation: Taking the bus is both ecological and puts me face to face with many people who don’t have a choice because they are poor. Thus, it addresses both goal #3 and #4. However, it takes extra time. I work at home so there are not many places I need to go and most destinations involve a transfer. Solution: “More” needn’t be !00%. I think I can commit to doing this at least once during Lent to see how it feels.
4. Interact more directly with people in need: I’ve already committed to tutoring one day a week at a low income school. Once a month I prepare meals and eat with the guests at the Catholic Worker House. I just bought additional Kroger food cards to more regularly give to panhandlers I encounter about 2-3 times a week. Probably one of these things will happen at least 20 days out of the 40.
5. Continue to prune more stuff from my home: On days that 1, 2, 3, or 4 have not happened, I commit to identify at least one item that I no longer need to give away. This also doubles as an act of justice and kindness.

But, how to assure busyness doesn’t prompt procrastination and backsliding?
Here are 2 strategies for developing a habit:

The T.A.G.S. approach
• Tell/Promise someone (I’m telling you now 🙂 )
• Award yourself – find a pleasing prompt to trigger your habit (Your blog comments can help.)
• Ground it in a root value – faith, justice, love. the common good (Check myself during prayer.)
• Small steps (It’s only 40 days. I will survive.)

The S.I.P. approach – How to motivate yourself to change your behavior – a TED Talk by Tali Sharot (watch especially from 9:40-16:48)
• Social incentives
• Immediate rewards
• Progress monitoring

So what’s this all have to do with YOU?
• Review your own life.
• What practice(s) would you like to turn into positive habits?
• What has helped you in the past? (Let the rest of us know.)

Being Kind, Beyond Stuff , ,

365+#205: 6 more simple ideas + Lent

February 19, 2020 6 comments

Life has been busy with little time to devote to serious possession pruning or recycling. My current volunteer priorities of environmental work and addressing the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church have been time consuming. Still, I’d like to share 6 more simple life tips before we plunge into Lent next week.

  1. Reduce Paper Towels: A few years ago I realized we had plenty of rags from old clothes that were not worthy of giving to thrift stores. With an abundance of rags, we decided to make it more difficult to use paper towels. We moved cloth towels to the the paper towel rack and moved the paper towels to an inconvenient place under the sink. Sometimes a paper towel is the best material for cleaning up, but usually a washable rag does just as well.
  2. Keep Water Bottles Handy: Both Jim and I have water bottles but often forget to take them with us to public gatherings where too often only disposable plastic cups are available. Solution: Put 2 water bottles in the car so they are handy.
  3. Use the Car for more than Transportation: Same as #2. We keep several reusable bags in the car for groceries and other purchases. I also recently put a collapsible plastic food container in the car glove compartment to use instead of the Styrofoam container that restaurants provide for left-overs.
  4. Color Coding: When our kids were young to reduce how many dishes we needed to wash we assigned each of them a color. Now when the family gathers or guests visit for longer than one meal they are assigned a colored cup (or glass with a colored rubber band). They also get a unique colored or designed cloth napkin.

  5. 7″ high purse

    Take Advantage of Others: Religious or non-profit organizations make it easier. I could drive to a collection point, but our parish collects toiletries, clothes, and food, for those in need. I’m going there anyway so it’s an easy conduit to get stuff to people in need.

  6. Carry my Identity/Silverware/Tools: If you go to a lot of meetings like I do, you get a lot of disposable name tags.  With

    spork+credit card

    my weakening memory, I appreciate name tags, BUT, I decided to carry a generic reusable one in my small purse. I also carry a “spork” in my purse to avoid single use plastic utensils. My unique “credit card”  includes a miniature knife, scissors, screwdriver, magnifying glass, tweezers, and pen.

Here Comes Lent: I love Lent…Well maybe it’s not love but rather it’s the motivation for me to look more deeply at what’s important in life and what is cluttering my mind and space. Research says that it takes between 20-60 days to develop a new habit so the 40 days of Lent are well suited reviewing my life and focusing on a change of spirit and practice. Currently I’m considering:

  • Using more public transportation
  • Eating a vegetarian diet
  • Eliminating single use plastic
  • Fasting from the internet and/or Facebook for 1 day a week
  • No optional restaurant meals (exceptions are the Parish Fish Fry or travel)
  • Finding ways to interact directly with people in need
  • ?? Please share additional ideas that you are considering
Days 365+

365+#204: It’s Simple + Not So Simple

January 24, 2020 3 comments

Sometimes Living more Lightly is short and simple. Of course there are other times when it takes more time than I would like and feels complicated. This week I’ve had a little of both.

Simple: Over the Christmas holidays we had a lot of guests. One of our guests treated us to a number of bottles of wine which came in a handy cloth bag with separators for  each bottle. Great! But we already had one of those bags and saw no reason to keep two. Easy solution just return the extra bag on our next trip to Krogers. Took 1 minute max.
PS 2020-2: I just did another simple recycling – Since we got several new items as Christmas gifts, I had a clock, robe, and slacks that were now duplicates. I took the easy way and called VietVets for a home pick-up. It’s not the most satisfying recycling effort since it’s very impersonal, but it sure is easy – took probably 30 seconds.

Not So Simple: With the holidays I also procrastinated clearing my desk (and floor) of papers from several different projects I had been working on – wanted to spend the time being present to our family and guests. Good choice. BUT this meant it was complicating my life to find which papers went to which project. Of course I have over the years developed a filing system and trays for my paperwork. One would think that it was simply a matter of sorting the papers into the appropriate locations. One would be wrong. Part of the reason I procrastinated is that even with 2 filing cabinets, 8 trays and 10 file separators, they were all becoming stuffed. I knew I would need to prune through the older file folders and this would take some time.

Finally I forced myself to set aside at least half a day to do this. 3 ½ hours later I was done. Now I have a lot more paper to put in curbside recycling. Yea!

Solutions: So what tasks have you found simple solutions for? What have you been procrastinating about? What has helped you get over inertia? Do you reward yourself? Tell someone to keep yourself accountable? Lock yourself in until it’s done? Give up and let it pile up?

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365+#203: A Decade of Highlights

January 11, 2020 No comments

It has been 10 years since I started my Living Lightly blog (Feb. 2010) and I’ve given you all a lot of words. In the spirit of decade reviews, I’m offering you a summary of highlights for those who might feel overwhelmed by looking at even my curated list of posts in the right column. Here are my top 10 topics of the decade with some literary license for years which point you to multiple posts. The order is roughly chronological rather than priority.

  1. Lent: 2010 Clothes – Although I scoured the whole house in 2010, I chose to focus on clothes since that is the most personal area and one that most people start with. For an overview, click here. For specifics see:
    Shoes: 1, 2 
    Tops: (blouses, sweaters) 1, 2, 3, 4
    Bottoms    : 1, 2
    Dresses/Suits
    Bedroom & Misc. Clothes*    : 1, 2 
    Accessories
    Coats
  2. 2011+ Other people’s stuff + 1, 2, 3, 4 Once having pruned stuff that belonged to me, I realized that we were storing a lot of stuff for other people (especially our grown kids).
  3. Lent: 2012 Eating Lightly (Food Stamp Challenge)
  4. Lent: 2013 Waste Less + misc. recycling posts
  5. Lent: 2014 A Drawer a Day This was my systematic but time efficient way to “conquer” hidden stuff.
  6. Lent: 2015 Buy Nothing Of course it’s impossible to spend NO money, but check my criteria for what I allowed and what I tried to forego.
  7. 2016-17 Paper Clutter, (Memorabilia, books,,,) Although dealing with paper (and now digital information) is a lifelong task, the key question is: What’s important to save, What’s not? Here’s a start.
  8. Lent: 2018 Kindness – 7 things I learned
  9. Humorous Foibles – During Lent 2019 I revisited my Room by Room process of 2010, but in hindsight this can get boring. As a break, here’s a taste of some mistakes.
  10. 2010-2019 Musings As I diligently tried to live more lightly on planet earth, I inevitably learned a lot about myself, what is important and what is not. Pick your favorite and let me know.

* I found that words for under garments apparently trigger spammers and those looking for stuff that is very different from this blog. Most seem to come from remote countries. I imagine that they are disappointed when they learn the purpose of this blog 🙂 .

Days 365+ none

365+#202: Taming Xmas & Plastics

December 10, 2019 9 comments

The joy of Christmas is too often accompanied by over-consumption of presents and plastics. Neither is good for the soul. Over the years I’ve written a number of blogs on simplifying Christmas. Click here to review some of them. This year I offer you Joshua Becker’s list of How to Restore Gift Giving Sanity.
BUT, with Christmas also comes good food, often wrapped in plastic packaging and it’s starting to pollute my Christmas spirit. Here’s my story.

It all started a couple months ago when I learned that Whole Foods would no longer accept #1-7 plastics for recycling. That’s a bummer. Our local curb side recycling accepts plastic bottles and jugs, but what about all those other plastics like the clamshells that berries and cherry tomatoes come in? What about the #5’s that yogurt comes in.

I diligently started searching for alternative places to recycle these plastics and found several. (For N. KY options click here, then scroll to bottom of PACA newsletter.) However, the more I researched I realized that the reason many recyclers were no longer accepting plastics was because their previous markets (primarily China) were no longer accepting our plastic. I also learned some disturbing news about the growing recycling related pollution problems in Indonesia which continues to import our plastics for “recycling.”

Finding alternate plastic recycling sources is only a temporary solution. I was going to have to go hard core – back to the basic recycling mantra REDUCE, reuse, recycle. But what about my beloved yogurt? I took a deep breath and decided to dig out my old yogurt maker from decades ago. Last week I made yogurt. Yea!

With yogurt conquered, I turned my attention to the plastic “clamshell” containers that berries and cherry tomatoes come in. In the summer I grow berries but don’t get many. I’m willing to default to raisins on my cereal for the rest of the year…but my husband isn’t. The jury is still out on how we will resolve this marital recycling difference. (After all he does compassionately release indoor insects to their outside homes; I just squash them.) I’m not aiming for 100% purity, but I can at least REDUCE how many clamshells come into our home. Have you found ways to reduce the use of single use plastics? Please share.

Bottom line:
RECYCLING – Good (Level 1)
REDUCE – Better  Don’t buy as many products packaged in plastic. (Level 1)
MULTIPLY SOLUTIONS – Best  Go beyond individual lifestyle changes by impacting societal change.
Level 2 – Talk with friends about your lifestyle improvements.
Level 3 – Institutional change. Contact local governments, schools, churches, etc.
Level 4 – Go Big – Become involved in national political change.
Click here to watch Will Grant’s 3 minute video describing Levels 2, 3, and 4 from the Drawdown workshops I facilitate. (If you’re ready to get into serious action to reverse global warming, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with a local group.)
Signs of progress: Click here to read or listen to NPR’s 3 minute recent feature on the evolving natural substitutes for plastics.

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365+#201: Taming Ad Gullibility

November 16, 2019 3 comments

As we approach the “giving” aka “buying” season of December, my mind turns to a pet peeve – excessive and deceptive Advertising.  For example:

  • Specialized dog biscuits geared to cure your dog of halitosis. Really? I love dogs but this seems over the top.
  • Toothpaste boxes that show a huge swirl of toothpaste overflowing the brush. Since I use an electric toothbrush with a tiny head, only a dab will do it. I presume it’s meant as a subliminal message to kids to put a big hunk of toothpaste on their brush so the parent has to buy toothpaste more often.
  • Fake news political ads. “Fake news” is in the eye of the beholder, but with each campaign season I see ads that portray a candidate or cause with misleading innuendos.
  • How does one know which news source to trust?

As I reflected on these examples, I realized that I had slipped into judgmentalism based on my own biases. So I tried arguing the other side:

  • Dog treats – Hey, it’s just a treat. Don’t I treat myself with ice-cream, candy bars, etc. Just be mindful that it’s a choice. Buying stuff won’t bring lasting happiness, love, and satisfaction. Those are inside jobs.
  • Toothpaste – Should I fault companies for trying to sell more of their product? After all, I have free will and don’t have to use that much.
  • Fake news – I can educate myself about news sources. I don’t have to be a blind consumer. Even if I like my news source I should be aware of how it leans so I’m not gullible to propaganda.  See Strategy #2 below for resources.

Strategies:
1. Take all hype with a grain of salt.
Train yourself to be Ad-Resistant. Question all ads.
2. Check it out with a reliable, neutral source.
See All Sides for a chart of how various news sources lean. For youth, visit Democracy and Me for good basic civics lessons
3. Time is usually your friend. Wait to see if the urge passes.
4. Assess purchases against the Need/Want principle. Treats are OK in moderation
5. Fast from one form of media ads for a week (TV, radio, FB, Instagram, magazines…)
6. OR for the hard core Ad Averse, consider big questions like –

• How would a homeless person view this purchase?
• Would I still buy this if I knew I was going to die tomorrow or next month?
• Can I use the money for something better or donate it to person in need?

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365+#200: The Cost of Convenience

October 26, 2019 No comments

My life has been busy lately. My guess is so has yours. Presumably we are both busy about important meaningful responsibilities. That makes searching for convenient, quicker ways to do things attractive. I get that and I’m a consumer of convenience – to a point.

But then there is the dilemma that conscientious consumers face when trying to also live lightly:
• When do I pay more for convenience?
• What is the ecological cost of convenience food, transportation, and outsourcing tasks such as cleaning and repairs?
It all comes down to yogurt and diapers. Well, not really, but consider these two examples:

Yogurt: Yogurt (and like products) usually come in #5 containers. Our curbside recycling does not accept #5s, BUT Whole Foods does – or at least it did until I saw an email saying that they were cutting back on accepting recyclables. What to do? Should I stop buying yogurt? I decided I didn’t need the yogurt with fruit in it. That reduces some. We used to make our own yogurt at home and still have the yogurt maker, but that takes time and is inconvenient. Should I choose convenience or make my own. Solution: Disaster averted. I called Whole Foods and found that they are eliminating accepting all recyclables except #5s.

Disposable Diapers: While this example will not apply to those beyond the early parenting years, the principle applies to everyone. Hold on. Back in ancient history, when disposable diapers were just invented, we used the standard cloth diapers for our 4 children. At home it wasn’t a big deal since it was only one extra load of wash a week. We defaulted to disposable diapers for the diaper bag and especially when traveling or camping. Eventually, we realized that it really was no extra trouble to keep a plastic bag in the diaper bag for day trips. We still made exceptions for longer or camping trips. Not only are they reusable and lasted for several children, when timeworn they make great rags for cleaning instead of paper towels. Since disposable diapers are now the default diaper, however, modern parents do not usually consider this alternative.
Principle: What convenience food, service, or travel do you automatically consume? Think:
• Eating less meat or meals out,
• Turning the thermostat up or down rather than putting on or taking off a sweater,
• Bringing a cloth bag to a store barely takes any more time than accepting a plastic one.
• Walking or biking to do close errands. (Count it as exercise and save a trip to the gym.)
Most of these actions are simply a matter of creating a new habit.

How have you reconciled expense or time vs convenience? What has worked? What has flopped? Curious minds want to know.

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365+#199: What is Kenosis?

September 26, 2019 2 comments

What is kenosis and what does it have to do with living lightly? Theologically speaking kenosis is the act of self-emptying in order to become entirely receptive to God’s divine will.

So, what’s this got to do with Living Lightly? I started down this path because my To Do list was getting too long and I was feeling burdened by the current political and ecclesial scandals swirling around me. I wanted to fix things. I have chosen two major areas on which to focus my energy –
• Environmental sustainability
• Responding to the clerical sexual abuse/cover-up crisis in the Catholic Church.
This is heavy stuff and as much as I get satisfaction from decluttering a drawer, pruning my clothes, and simplifying my lifestyle in general, still my mind and my being were whirring with deadlines, commitments, and important things to do to make a positive difference in our complicated world. Sometimes it can feel like just too much.

That’s where kenosis comes in. Currently my goal is not so much a cleaner material space but to empty myself of distracting worries and anger at corrupt systems so I can figure out “What is mine to do?” Of all the good and laudable causes that I care about I cannot do everything. I must say NO to somethings so that my energy can be put to where my interests and talents best position me to make a difference. This takes prioritizing, letting go of thinking it’s all about me, i.e., self emptying. It also takes working in community with others.
I can’t do it all.

I shouldn’t do it all. Only when we humans join our hands, minds, and energy together and try to be receptive to the common good, aka God’s divine will, can we be instruments of healing for our planet and each other. We need to seek the sacred inherent in all life and creation. To do this I sense that we need time, quiet, and self-emptying. I’ve been trying to do these things for quite awhile, but now I need reinforcement.

  1. Daily silent time to listen to nature and to the Spirit within me.
  2. Let go of my desire to impress others by my accomplishments.
  3. #2 does not mean I don’t act, but I must carefully discern (perhaps with the counsel of others) What is mine to do?

What helps you to empty yourself of busyness and self-importance so as to be receptive to the sacred?

Beyond Stuff, Days 365+ , ,

365+#198: Saving Time vs Saving $

August 28, 2019 4 comments

Is it better to save time or to save money? I notice that I value both time and money but sometimes that complicates my life because one comes at the cost of the other. For example:

Eating Out vs. Eating at Home: Eating out saves preparation time (if you don’t count travel time). Still, it can be a welcome respite from the chore of fixing dinner, it can be a time to reconnect with friends, and sometimes it’s necessary because of travel. I notice that now that our kids are grown we eat out a bit more than we did when they were all home. This mostly was because of cost since it coincided with our lower family income. In order for eating out not to become a function of creature comfort creep, I try to think of it as a treat. A “treat” loses its power if it is done too often. Yes, we eat out, but try not to make it the go to frequent option.

Exercise – Gym vs Homemade: Exercise is good for you. Paying for a gym membership can be a motivator, especially if you have a regular daily or weekly routine. I know people who find that having a place to go and special equipment, and maybe even a trainer keeps them committed to exercise. My frugal self says, “Hey I can do sit-ups and planks at home and take a walk or a bike ride. It’s free. It saves travel time. What a deal.” I like this approach but who am I to judge. Besides bikes cost money plus we recently bought a bike rack (so we could drive to level bike paths 😕). Similarly, one of my husband’s favorite sports is golf. It takes both a fair amount of time and money.

Hiring a Cleaning Person vs Cleaning Your Own Home: This has been a bone of contention between my husband and me. We also have different standards of what constitutes clean enough. One side says, “Why should we pay someone to do something that we’re perfectly capable of doing ourselves. It feels too elite.” The other side says, “But it would free some of our time to do other worthy work and/or volunteer our time. Besides it provides income for someone who needs the money.” Guess which side I’m on.

The point to these examples is not that one is right and the other wrong. None are necessarily immoral, but it is these competing values that make living lightly complicated. Some things to consider are:

  • All things in moderation.
  • Make your own best choice and don’t judge others.
  • What would Jesus do?
  • Be mindful and generous – with yourself and others.
  • Or, as one of our sons is fond of saying, “Time IS Money.”
  • ________ What’s your criteria? What would you add to this list?

When have you tried to decide between something that saved time vs saved money? How did you decide?

Beyond Stuff , , , ,

365+#197: Waiting with Strangers

August 4, 2019 2 comments

Last week I had two experiences of being forced to wait with strangers. My first reaction was annoyance at being delayed. But upon reflection, I realized that these were opportunities to let go of my compulsion to not waste time. I like to be on time and to make the most of my time. In fact, I came to realize that sometimes letting go of my deadlines, my time, and instead being mindful of others in my presence might be called a “Holy Waiting.”

Example #1 – Airport Delay: I was already at the airport when the announcement came that my flight would be delayed 2 ½ hours. It was inconvenient but not a deal breaker since I was returning home with no immediate commitments. Of course 80+ other passengers were also faced with the same delay. After a little grumbling most people settled into tolerating the inevitable. One extroverted passenger sat down next to me and struck up a conversation that lasted for most of the time. We talked about trivial things and important things like life decisions we had made and how travel had broadened our lives. Other passengers contributed to the conversation as they felt inclined. We became a loose community of folks facing the same adversity. I thought about how my morning prayer always ends with something to the effect of “God, help me to be present to the people who cross my path today.”

Example #2 – Bridge Closing: The next day, President Trump was to hold a rally in Cincinnati. Jim & I planned to ride our bikes to a protest demonstration near the site since parking was bound to be a challenge. BUT, when we got to the bridge to ride across the river to Cincinnati, we found that for security the police had closed the bridge including foot and bike crossings. This meant that there were about 50 people – both Trump supporters and Trump protesters gathered at the bridge…waiting. We didn’t know how long. I wondered what to do. We had a common obstacle but very different political views. I toyed with the idea of proposing a respectful dialogue, but the setting didn’t feel right. Eventually, I engaged a couple strangers in conversation about how long we might have to wait. They asked me what my t-shirt referred to. I explained that Nuns on the Bus was about a Catholic social justice movement. One man said to me, “Oh, I think we’re probably on different sides of this issue. I’m looking forward to seeing my president.” I asked him to tell me about what he valued in life and how that motivated him to support Trump. We had a cordial conversation. I noted that I really agreed with all of the values he held but came to a different conclusion about who to vote for. Eventually, the bridge reopened and we both proceeded to our separate destinations.

Learnings:
1. Sometimes a common obstacle can unite people around a common cause.
2. Sometimes it’s easier to talk with strangers about sensitive matters than folks we know well.
3. Sometimes I have to not only let go of my possessions but also my time.
4. Wasting time together need not be wasted time. Sometimes it is holy time.

Beyond Stuff, Days 365+ , , , ,

365+#196: Giving Away Things of Value

July 10, 2019 1 comment

How does one count the value of things we give away? (click to enlarge)
Originally I had divided this blog into 2 categories:

  1. EXPENSIVE GIVEAWAYS.
    This included a silver/gold chalice, a framed piece of art from France, a fancy metal lighter from Paris, a heavy metal flask with leather carrying case, a large unused candle encased in glass.
  2. CHEAP GIVEAWAYS.
    This included 6 water bottles and a blood pressure cuff. A local Respite Center had put a notice in our parish bulletin that with the hot summer days, they were in dire need of water bottles for their residents and guests. I also got an email from an old friend who started a non-profit in Kenya and he was collecting medical supplies for the Kakuma Mission Hospital. One thing he especially requested was rechargeable blood pressure cuffs. Well, I had several old water bottles from camping plus a few extra modern ones. I also had a 10 year old blood pressure cuff that I seldom used.

So, good. I figured I had an easy July blog post. BUT, Jim and I just got back from a 2 week visit with the indigenous people of the Ecuador rainforest. It was a journey sponsored by The Pachamama Alliance (click for short video) in which we visited the Achuar and Sapara tribes. We learned their ways and their commitment to protect the rainforest from the encroachment of oil and mining companies. Of course this was a meaningful but challenging experience as we trudged through muddy terrain, lived without electricity (much less internet connection), revived our camping skills, but spent time with joy filled people throughout it all.

So what’s this got to do with my 2 major give-away categories? I decided to reverse the usual value assigned to “expensive” goods as opposed to “cheap” goods. Water bottles are cheap. BUT, in the rainforest, water is life. Yes, they have plenty of water because the rainforest earns its name honestly. But WE, first world visitors, could not safely drink the local water. We always had to carry purified water. We came to value water highly. THEN, when I returned home and went to drop off our extra water bottles to a local shelter, I got the address wrong and went to the wrong center. As I was about to walk the block to the correct agency, several local people standing nearby heard me say that I was looking for the place to donate my water bottles and they said, “Hey, can I have one of them?” Then another asked; then another. I never got to my intended destination. Indeed I realized that water – and the means to carry it – was an item of great value.
Likewise, I get my blood pressure checked every time I go to a physician or dentist. Plus, if I really need to I can get it checked free at the local supermarket. Yet, the Mission Hospital in Kakuma didn’t have enough. Its value immediately rose in my mind.

Decorative items and precious metals can be beautiful and good, but they are not life and death items. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded about the inherent value of things we take for granted. I donated the decorative items to Legacies, a local high-end consignment shop. Maybe I’ll get a small tax deduction for them. 🙂 

Days 365+ , ,

365+#195: Recycling Basics & Beyond

June 11, 2019 4 comments

PRE-CYCLING: Before I address the topic of recycling, it’s worth starting at the beginning. Remember the classic “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” mantra of the early earth friendly movement. Too often we jump to the third “Recycle” option when the “Reduce” and “Reuse” steps would  reduce the overall need for recycling. Some call this Precycling. Evaluate a product before buying it to make sure it is environmentally sound thus reducing the need for recycling. Avoid products that use excess packaging. Let manufacturers know you care. Chide the wasteful ones. Praise the helpful ones. Go shopping with a reusable bag. If you forget, request a paper bag and later use it to line your trash can. Decline plastic bags. Reuse all bags. (Simple Living Works). See my Prevention post for updated 2021 ideas.
Example: We like fruit on our cereal. My husband and I have been debating whether to buy the fruit (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) that come in plastic containers (“clam shells”) that are not accepted in our curbside recycling. I suggested we refrain from buying the fruit when it is not in season? We grow some berries in our yard and could buy more at local farmer’s markets. I said, “I’m fine with raisins the rest of the year.” Jim is not. Hmmm, still considering this.

REGULAR RECYCLING – Let’s define this as stuff that is trash but is recyclable and you don’t want the garbage truck to deposit it in a landfill. (For donating usable items see previous post, Donating Basics.)
• City curbside programs are wonderful. Ours accepts cans, paper, and bottles made of plastic or glass.
• Plastics that don’t qualify for curbside: In response to consumer advocates, conscientious companies are pursuing alternatives to single use plastics and packaging. Be part of the solution. (See blog post #202 for other ideas.)
• Plastic bags: Many supermarkets provide a large container for recycling plastic bags. WARNING: Do not put plastic bags in curbside recycling carts. Having toured our regional recycling center I saw how plastic bags had to be manually removed lest they gum up the machinery.
• Metal: Local scrap metal places take more serious metals if you have enough to make it worth your time.
Example: My husband’s home office gets pretty cold in the winter. No problem. We have 2 space heaters – one that works and one that doesn’t. We tried to fix the broken one so we could donate it to a shelter. Unfortunately, it was beyond repair. So, not an electrician but still a handyman, Jim, disassembled it to retain the metal parts. We use Can Dew or Cohen for recycling in the Cincinnati area.
• Click here to see previous posts I’ve done on recycling.

CREATIVE RECYCLING – If you have time and creativity bottles, cans, etc. can be re-used for art or home projects.
Example: I found several ways to use an old slide carousel from Pinterest. However, I eventually just took it to St. Vincent de Paul. I’ll leave the creativity to someone else this time.

SERIOUS RECYCLING – Beyond 34 is a private-public partnership seeking to break through the national recycling barrier of 34%. It challenges people to move from personal recycling to make a bigger difference. It’s coming to Cincinnati..

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Google “where to recycle…”: or use Earth 911’s search function.

PS: Some things are not worth recycling (like my holey T-shirts) Let it go or let it be a rag.

Days 365+ ,

365+#194: Donating Basics

May 28, 2019 3 comments

After

Before-click to enlarge

I spent the past 10 weeks going Room by Room to discern additional household items to give away. I then spent 2 more weeks researching where to take all this stuff. Some were easy but some took a lot of searching and time. Here is an outline of my methodology and resources so you don’t have to start from scratch.
Step 1: Gather all  items in one place.
Step 2. Separate into categories like: clothes, household, books, toys, health, entertainment.
Step 3: Decide how much time and effort you are willing to spend finding homes for your donations. Here are the options I considered from easiest to hardest.

1. HOME-FREE – As my collection of stuff grew I started inviting visitors to peruse my piles and take whatever they wanted. We have a lot of meetings at our home so lots of people come through. We also had some folks do cleaning and yard work so they got to pick too.
• A variation on this is the national Next Door program in which you advertise items for neighbors who come by and pick it up. Freecycle is similar but I had less luck with that.

2. EASY/PEASY– Several charitable organizations have trucks which you can schedule to pick up your items. Although they will often take small loads, I think it is a better use of their time when you have furniture or many items. Examples are: AmVets, Lupus, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Salvation Army. and VietVets. Most groups ask you to put in your location and connect you with their local organization.

3. ONE STOP – Although it’s nice to have a truck stop at your home, I felt a more direct and trusted connection when I could take my donations directly to the charity’s store. The two biggest ones are:
• St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores. I took the bulk of my stuff here because I had some local contacts and they confirmed that they take almost everything and nothing goes to a landfill. Click here for the national SVDP website.
• Goodwill Thrift Stores. To also learn about Goodwill’s employment training programs for those will special needs Click here.

4. A GOOD FIT – It’s especially satisfying when you can give a donation to an individual or organization that you have a personal connection with. Donating through your house of worship, a charity you volunteer with, a local school, a municipal entity (like the library) etc. is ideal, but this takes more effort to find the right fit. I took toiletries, socks, etc. to a local homeless shelter and Respite Center I was involved with. A Cincinnati example of a creative local arts outlet is Scrap It Up Creative ReUse Center,

5. HARD TO FIND HOMES – Then there was the miscellaneous pile. 🙁  I did some research so you won’t have to. For example:
• Medications: Most municipal police departments have “Take Back” programs. Also CVS pharmacies have drop boxes. Click here for other Take Back locations.
• Disposable Razors: Good News Network recycles razors. Mailing cost me $3.74
• CDs, DVDs, Cassette tapes, and jewel cases: Best Buy and Target take these for recycling. Click here for an overview, or click here for a directory. Cincinnati area folks can take vintage cassette tapes to RCK Pros. They helped me.
• VHS tapes: After searching the internet, Earth 911, and calling 5 potential sites, the bottom line is that nobody within 20 miles of my home recycles VHS tapes. BUT…by chance when I was trying to call Salvation Army, I mistakenly got another small thrift shop called “Betty’s Treasures” and voila, the person who answered the phone said, “Sure, we take them. You’d be surprised how many people buy them.” So, recycling VHS tapes is pretty impossible but some people still like to watch them. Sometimes it’s just a matter of calling a few more numbers before you give up. Some of these tapes may eventually end up in a landfill, but I feel  vindicated to have at least a little success. Have any of you accidentally found a worthy recipient of what the rest of us call trash?
• Old photos: Click here for an overview of why they’re difficult to recycle. Best solution is to digitally scan them. I decided to trash my stash of duplicate or lousy photos.
• Trophies: This is another difficult category. Scarce offers some ideas and resources but it often requires mailing the trophies in and you pay the shipping. A local school and St. Vincent de Paul took mine.
• Mattresses: Mattresses are often not accepted at thrift stores or donation centers. Tips Bulletin, Earth 911, and The Mattress Nerd answer a lot of questions about if and how you can recycle a mattress.
• Hazardous Waste: What qualifies as hazardous waste? Most municipalities have hazardous waste drop off events once or twice a year. Call your city.

6. FURNITURE PICK UPS  – For a list of 8 Charities that will pick up your furniture donations for free, click here.

7. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Google “where to recycle…”: or use Earth911’s search function.

More recycling tips in a future blog. What are your best tips?

Days 365+, Room by Room

365+#193: R by R: Basement/Garage

May 15, 2019 4 comments

Basements and Garages are natural storage places so this is the likely place to find a lot of things to give away. It’s also likely to take a lot of time to sort through stuff accumulated – possibly over decades if you haven’t moved recently.

There are 3 basic kinds of storage items:
1. Seasonal and Occasional: These are things that will be used in the near future: (supplies for household repair, laundry, pantry non-perishables, camping, gardening, visiting grandchildren, and sports equipment.
2. Obsolete, Unnecessary, or Duplicates (See the duplicate photos in the plastic bag.)
3. Memorabilia and Maybe?: These are items that have happy memories attached to them. Click to enlarge photo.

#1 was easy – Keep them.
#2 was easy – Give them away, recycle, or discard.
But, #3 took time because of the tapes and records.

VHS tapes: One might say that VHS tapes are obsolete, BUT, we still have a VHS player connected to our TV. After reviewing the titles of 90 tapes, I decided to keep 60 – many were home movies. Anyone know what to do with 29 semi-interesting tapes?

Vinyl Records: Vinyl records are also obsolete so I readily donated a hand-me down record console to a nearby used media store. This left me with a small phonograph which I thought worked but didn’t. The problem was that my deceased mother was a singer and had made a record. I wanted to save that priceless piece of history. I also had 33 long playing 33 1/3 albums from the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. How many Simon & Garfunkel or Peter, Paul, and Mary records does one really need to keep? I decided to trade about half of them to the media store in exchange for fixing my broken phonograph.

Extra dishes: We were saving dishes from deceased parents because a few of them were heirloom china and others we hoped would help our children set up their own homes. I’m giving away a box of the ordinary glasses and bowls. (Our kids live far away or already have kitchen supplies.
Basketballs: Our kids played a lot of basketball in our driveway, but they no longer live here. I found 3 balls in the basement. One went to a teen who was helping us with yard work. I’ll save one.
Birdcage: We once had birds but that was decades ago. The bird cage goes.
Ice-cream maker: The ice-cream maker that someone gave us sounded like a nice family activity but we never got around to it. Maybe someone else will.
Greenhouse frame: I had dreams of getting a head start on my garden by planting seedlings out doors in this small greenhouse, but my vision was bigger than my time. I just passed on the frame to a neighbor through Next Door this morning. It freed up a lot of space in our garage.

There is plenty more in the basement to prune. It doesn’t all have to be done this round. What’s lingering, unused in your home?

A Drawer A Day, Room by Room , ,

365+#192: R by R: 10 Lenten Lessons

April 26, 2019 3 comments

Click to enlarge

Lent is over but my 2019 Room by Room pruning is not. I’m taking a breather to reflect on what I’ve learned over the past 6 weeks. The photo at right shows much of what I decided to give away but not all of it since some items have already been disbursed, recycled, or trashed. Following are 10 things I’ve learned along the way:

1. WHY BOTHER?
    • On a Human level it feels good to give extra things away and clear clutter. I can find things more easily, the house has a cleaner look, and I feel virtuous.
    • On a Family level I figure I’m saving our children the drudgery of sorting through closets, papers, and myriad miscellaneous stuff after our death. But wait…
    • On an Emotional level I came to realize that as time consuming as some of the sorting was, it was also therapeutic to ponder one’s life while still in it.
    • On a Social Justice level it seems only right to pass on things we no longer need.
    • On a Spiritual level I am sometimes haunted by the writing of St. Basil the Great: “The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”
2. LENT IS TOO SHORT
Despite my well-crafted schedule I came to the end of Lent and still hadn’t gotten to the basement and garage. Sometimes life and people get in the way. I had to remind myself that people are more important than things and schedules. Lent is a helpful motivating concept but being fully present to those who cross my path is a higher value. This is a life long journey.
3. HOW MUCH TIME?
My plan to spend at least ½ hour a day made sense because it sounded doable, BUT, most pruning took longer. Once I was in the midst of a project it was hard to stop. Some days I skipped and some days I hunkered down for a couple hours.
4. A SELF-PERPETUATING PROCESS
As I moved from one room to the next, I started to reconsider past items I had decided to save. Originally, I was rather restrained about what to let go of. After all, I might want that dress, that costume, that dish some day. As I continued, I found myself challenging those decisions more vigorously. Sometimes I went back to “finished rooms” and felt ready to let go of more.
5. HOW MANY EXTRAS?     +     +     +     +     +     +     +     +     +     +     +     +
Being a cautious person by nature, a number of decisions came down to “Maybe I should keep this just in case.” I kept returning to St. Basil’s counsel which is sometimes translated as your extra coat is stolen from the poor. I have more than one coat but I’m not a thief. Still this thought helped me more freely cull my extras. (Read Peter Sawtell of Eco-Justice Ministries’ recent challenging article on How Much Is Enough?)
6. RULES AND STRATEGIES:
Since it’s often difficult to find a good balance between being prudent and being generous, I found these helpful:
  • The 20/20 Rule applies to just in case items. If it can be replaced in under 20 minutes and costs under $20, let it go.
  • The Half Goal: Sometimes I had multiple items like storage containers or catalogs. I wanted to keep some but didn’t need all of them. To help me decide, I pushed myself to let go of half.
  • 4/5 Year Sweep: I started this blog in 2010. Although I continue to give things away throughout each year, this is my 3rd full house sweep. I really don’t add many new items so I’m not quite sure how I still have plenty to give away. I think the lesson is that periodically it’s good to do a household review – just as it’s also good to periodically do a life review
7. OTHER’S STUFF vs FAMILY HARMONY
   • Spouse or child: Of course I can’t force another to cooperate with giving stuff away or to live a simple lifestyle. I can invite, model, and make it appealing but family harmony is more important than a tidy house. This year my husband made it clear that his office was off limits and he had veto power over kitchen decisions since he does most of the cooking. I would have been more ruthless in the kitchen, but I honored his wishes.
  • Adult children: I decided that when they are all home next Christmas I will invite them to spend 1 common hour reviewing the boxes/trunks that each has stored here. I will be within earshot so we can reminisce, but their decisions will be final. It will be their Christmas gift to me. I don’t want anything else.
8. HARDEST/EASIEST
Probably the hardest decisions were memories and mementos The easiest were my trophies or my clothes because it was only my decision.
9. INNER GROWTH
Letting go of physical stuff continues to remind me that the trappings, honors, signs of success are not what is most important. Being present to others by letting go of my self-importance is what’s important. This inner pruning is not finished but ongoing.
10. SIDE BENEFITS
Looking for things to give away prompted cleaning, organizing, and finding lost items. This Lent I found our bagel slicer. I also found a beloved pendant when searching through too much jewelry. When looking for my husband’s lost biking glove, I found it and 2 more gloves.

COMING SOON:
  • Basement and Garage pruning
  • Where to take it all – Deciding where to take stuff will be at least as hard as deciding what to give away. I’m allowing myself 1 month.

A Drawer A Day, Room by Room , , ,

365+#191: R by R: Dining Rm + Closets

April 24, 2019 No comments

The 6 weeks of Lent are over but I’m not done. Despite my carefully crafted schedule and efforts to catch up at the end – life interfered. Here’s the skinny on the:

Dining Room: We have a beautiful built in china cabinet which makes it easy to store misc. dining and decorative items. It also makes it too easy to collect misc. things like candles, wrapping paper, and mementos.
Give Aways: My biggest purges were 10 empty 3 ring binders and a 48 piece flatware set, (We already had 2 sets of inherited silverware that we haven’t had a party formal enough to use in a decade.) Add to this a few outdated books and mementos.
Discard: 34 of 68 catalogs some dating back to 1999. (I invoked my “discard half” rule. The reasons I kept any are too complex to go into now.)

Reorganize/Relocate – music for prayer services. (This was prompted by the disintegration of the expandable file I kept copies in. I found a new file folder but the process of sorting took 2 hours. I also relocated 4 wrapped candles to the emergency gift drawer.

Bathroom Closet: This was already pretty trim, but I did find some old hair dye and frosting supplies that I will never use again plus an unlabeled bottle that seemed to contain shampoo. Pitched all of these things.

Catch-all Closet: This closet contained some kid toys and garden supplies.
Useless: Hardened clay. It makes a pretty photo but the clay was hard as a rock.
Give Away: However, the molds that our kids used for the clay are still good. Now I have to find some good kids to bequeath the molds to.
Discard Safely: I was chastised to find too many insecticides that I haven’t used in years and that I now try to avoid using. Finding a place that takes hazardous household waste took most of my time. Most communities have a once or twice a year round up time for citizens to dispose of hazardous waste but that’s 7 months away. After much internet searching I found that Hamilton County (Cincinnati) takes hazardous waste once a week. Now I have to impose on a friend in Cincinnati to take these items for me.

Semi-Conclusion: So I have spent time reviewing what to keep and what to get rid of on the main floor and upstairs of our house. I humbly conclude that this work is by no means finished, but I’ve been learning a lot about my attitudes toward possessions  and letting go of stuff in the process. I still have the basement and garage to go and those are gigantic spaces with many decisions looming, but not for today.

I will write a separate post soon about the lessons I’ve learned from this Lenten project. Then I will continue into the underworld (our basement) and the outside world (our garage).

A Drawer A Day, Room by Room ,

365+#190: R by R: Kitchen + Pantry

April 14, 2019 1 comment

KITCHEN: I spent 5 days deciding what to keep, give away, or relocate from our kitchen, pantry, and nearby cubby holes. Some days I worked for 1 ½ hours since I had the time. Other days I did nothing because I had no discretionary time. Here are the results:
Cupboard clean-out: I took all the contents out (see right) then cleaned the cabinet, and decided what to keep. (see below)
What would you have kept or pitched?
•Keep: plates, bowls, and a generous supply of containers for leftovers and storage.
•Give away: 2 extra glasses, 5 carry out containers (out of 10), 2 sandwich containers
•Recycle: 5 plastic lids that don’t fit anything
2 #5 lids will go to Whole Foods
•Pitched: 4 unrecyclable lids that don’t fit
Misc. give aways tucked in corners of misc. cupboards: mixer beaters and attachments to a broken mixer, never used Bundt cake pan, decorative nut bowl, almost never used flask, 3 of 10 misc. baskets,  several misc. lids and bases that don’t fit anything, duplicate size frying pan, very old can opener, 2 ash trays (We’ve never used the ash trays, but I suppose there was a time 30 years ago when we thought it would be hospitable to have an ashtray available if needed.)
Found: a bagel slicer that we thought had been lost
Pitched: Outdated food
Relocated:
• 4 costume leis moved to costume box
• Ice-melting compound moved to basement
• 3 kites moved to basement sports equipment
• Empty Pepsi bottle from 1989 Soviet Union trip moved to place for commemorative bottles

PANTRY: We have a large pantry for miscellaneous food staples, snacks, and cleaning supplies. I only disposed of 3 carpet cleaning supplies and a huge jug of starch. I don’t know if I ever used liquid starch but it was so old it was separating.

LESSONS LEARNED:

  1. It takes a long time to organize a kitchen. Considering how many separate small items are in a typical kitchen, it takes a while to sort and organize. Food and cooking create crumbs and scum. The cleaning process itself was worth it but took a lot of time.
  2. How many? How many storage containers, baskets, etc. should be saved? A few are handy but there should be a limit. I usually aimed to reduce items like these by about half.
  3. The 20/20 Rule. I wavered about whether to keep rarely used. Maybe someday I’d want to make a Bundt cake. Maybe I should keep the starch just in case some obscure repair instructions call for it someday. I finally summoned up my courage when I heard about the 20/20 Rule. If it can be replaced in under 20 minutes and costs under $20, let it go.

 

A Drawer A Day, Room by Room
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