Spring is finally on its way! For a lot of people, it’s time to undergo their annual spring cleaning. This is a big chore so we’ve broken up our “how-to” segment into two weeks, so be sure to check back here next week!

This first week is about clearing your house of unwanted clutter. But, how do you get rid of clutter without sending things to the landfill? 

First, let’s think about the definition of “de-cluttering”. Usually, the focus is on getting things out of the house, no matter what. But if the end goal changes from getting rid of things, to focusing on creating zero waste, you can find creative solutions to use the things you already have (that no longer serve their purpose) to fulfill any other needs around the house.

Start by making areas for separate piles of the things you don’t need anymore.

• Reusing/re-purposing
• Repairing 
• Composting 
• Donating
• Selling 

Already, the focus is not on trash! You might end up throwing things away, but hopefully this sparks ideas about reusing items you might have tossed. 

Now it’s time to add to the piles:

• Things that can go in your reuse/re-purpose pile:
  • Clothes with holes
    • Tear them up to use as cleaning rags.
  • Old toothbrushes
    • Use them as scrubbers for those hard to get to places! 
  • Old bottles and containers
    • Hold bulk food items you buy at the store.
    • Make your own household cleaners.
    • Organize children’s toys.
    • Organize screws and tools in the garage.

• Things that can go in your compost pile:
  • Wood scraps
  • Plants & Flowers (no flower pots and must fit into compost bucket)
  • Landscape Vegetation (must fit into compost bucket)
• Things to donate:
  • Craft items you no longer use
    •  Scraps KC 
  • Building materials, paint, furniture, etc.
    •  Habitat for Humanity Restore 
  • Clothes and accessories
    • Goodwill and local thrift stores. 
  • Don’t forget you can list items on your local Freecycle group. 

There are plenty of ways to step up your spring cleaning to help the environment, these are just a few. Leave us a comment on our social media profiles if you have your own creative solution for zero waste spring cleaning!

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Facebook: Compost Collective KC