Have you ever wondered at what point in time you accumulated so much stuff, so much so that your home is a cluttered mess? Clutter has a way of sneaking up on you, but that’s a problem that you can solve. You can clean out your home, make it sparkling again, and restore some organization so you can easily find your belongings that matter. A complete home cleaning is often an arduous task, but with a little bit of planning and the ideal guide to help you declutter, you can get it done. Here’s a complete home cleanout guide that you could find helpful in decluttering your home.

Establish Clear Cleanout Goals Initially

Before you jump head-on into cleaning, come up with a clear idea of what you’d like to accomplish and plan it out. The reason for establishing goals, in the beginning, is to limit the chance of frustrations and prevent unwanted problems that could arise. You also want to keep a check on the things you’d like to cover, whether it’s polishing the basement floors or throwing out old Christmas decorations in the attic. Identify each room’s  ‘clutter hotspots’ that is a must for you to tackle. Set a cleanup date for each room that is convenient for you. Each phase of the cleanout should have a specific time allotted. This will help you keep things on track.

Organize Your Stuff

At the end of the day, you do not want to still be hanging onto stuff that you do not need. As you move from room to room and space to space in your home, sort all the items in a manner that creates some level of organization. This will allow you to know what to discard and what you want to keep around. The “Three-Box Method” is a popular sorting choice, but you can establish your method of organization. It involves having three storage boxes or bins for recycling, donating, packing things up for a garage sale. Be sure to label the boxes or bins so you can easily locate your items when you need to retrieve them.

Discard the Clutter Using Different Methods

How you dispose of your clutter is up to you, but there are a couple of options that you could find helpful in the process. You can get rid of unwanted items in these ways:

•     Recycle: It’s best to get rid of recyclable items by recycling them. Items that can be placed in the recycling bin include plastic, paper, and recyclable glass and electronics. It may be that you have a curbside pickup or you’ll have to take your recyclables to your local recycling drop-off location.

 

•     Donate: If you have some items that are still in good condition and would prefer not to simply throw them away, but have someone else enjoy them, donating them is a good option. Whether its clothes or furniture, Good Will or some other charity organization can be good homes for your unwanted items. Check with your local charities’ donation guidelines ahead of any drop-offs. It’s also possible to post freebies on certain websites, encouraging takers to come and take away items that you want to part with.

 

•     Make Some Money With a Garage Sale: You are not looking to be a millionaire here. Instead, you want your clutter gone while you make some pocket money in the process. Many people love a good garage sale. Set a date for your garage sale or check to see if your neighborhood or homeowner’s association has a set garage sale date.

 

•     Dumpster Haul Rental: If you’d like some help with hauling your clutter, renting a dumpster, especially to get rid of large household items is a good option. It’s a stress-free option where you can relax and let others do the big haul. Your job will be to fill up the dumpster with all your clutter when it is delivered to your home and the junk removal company would haul it away. No hassle.

Sanitize the Home

One of the biggest parts of the home cleanout process is sanitizing surfaces after the clutter has been cleared out. You don’t necessarily need to bleach the home from corner to corner. Sanitize areas such as bathrooms, tables (kitchen, coffee, play-area, and night tables), counters, and other frequently touched areas. Now more than ever, you should have a keen focus on sanitizing your home, especially during a home cleanout to limit the spread of germs.

 Contact Us

You might be due for a home cleanout, but you don’t have to worry about where to start. Plan your cleanout, get organized, and work with a junk removal company for your next home cleanout. You’ll make the process run smoothly with little or no hiccups. Contact Elite Services Junk Removal and Demolition today at (978) 317-5388.

Did you know that only about 64% of paper and cardboard ends up getting recycled? Unfortunately, the U.S. is often behind when it comes to both understanding what can be recycled, and then actually taking the steps to recycle these items.

Recycling is important, for more reasons than you might think. Here’s why.

Reduces Waste

Did you know that the average American throws out about eight pounds of trash every day? Recycling common household items can help us re-use our resources rather than continue to overload existing landfills. And if Americans fully recycled all the paper they used each year, 782 million more trees would be saved.

Better for the Environment

The Ocean Conservancy estimates that there’s about 150 million tons of plastic in our oceans right now, with another 8 tons on the way each and every year. It can take decades for plastic to fully break down, and in the meantime, it frequently serves as a choking or environmental hazard. Scientists have noted that plastic often gets broken down into particles that are ingested by fish—that often end up on our plate. Recycling plastic can help cut down on oceanic pollution.

Saves Energy

Did you know that manufacturing with recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy? Consider the process of retrieving aluminum. First, it has to be mined from the earth—an expensive procedure. Then it has to be treated with chemical processes, etc., to separate the ore from everything else. Only then does it reach the point of being ready for manufacturing. A recycled item, though, is already ready for manufacturing. A single ton of recycled aluminum saves the same amount of energy that the average American home would use in 10 years.

Slow Down Climate Change

As the materials in landfills begin to break down, they release gases into the air. These gases then enter the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Properly recycling solid waste can help prevent the acceleration of the greenhouse effect that is warming up our planet at an unsustainable rate. As an example: a single office recycling all its paper for a year reduces its carbon footprint by the equivalent of 370 cars.

What steps do you plan to take to recycle better in your local community? Contact our team at Elite Junk Removal & Demolition Services today at 978-317-5388.