Dematerialization: Step 2

Okay,
So you've decided to dematerialize, say goodbye to the clutter in your life. Be prepared there is more than one way to dematerialize.

You'll need:

• Some time (a day?)
• A room to dematerialize (the 3-step process is repeated for each room)
• The room to dematerialize must be clean (it's easier to find stuff)
• A friend who doesn't bullshit you (or a critical mother)
• Three boxes

Step 1: Label the 3 Boxes
Box A is Goodbye and includes items for Sale, Donation or Garbage but is essentially comprised of stuff you no longer want.
Box B is Maybe and includes stuff that you are not sure you want, but can't get rid of right away
Box C is Repair and includes stuff that needs to be fixed, cleaned or redone.

Step 2: Go through the room, in every nook cranny and drawer and start putting items in their appropriate boxes. Use your critical friend as a fresh eye on what should go or stay.

Some guidelines for Goodbye:

• Clothing unworn for two years
• Clothing that doesn't fit but might if you lose some weight (if you lose the weight you'll want new clothes)
• Anything with tags that hasn't been used within a year of purchase
• Abandoned musical instruments
• Books that won't be read or reread
• Tacky home decor that serves no legitimate purpose
• Kitchen appliances that haven't been used in over a year (Sorry George Foreman grill)
• Toys that are no longer played with (except the ones with sentimental value)
• Unused old technology
• Unwanted gifts

Listen to your friend: They will be objective where you can't.

Guidelines for Maybe: The Maybe pile is stuff that you don't use but that you can't part with just yet. This is normal and is part of the process of removing reliance on material possessions. Hide your completed Maybe box after finishing the room. Look at its contents again in 6 months and reconsider what should go. You'll be surprised at what you discover.

Guidelines for Fix: Fix it only if you intend on using it afterwards. Otherwise it should go in goodbye.

Step 3: Sorting Goodbye
Remember: Goodbye doesn't mean the trash.
Goodbye should be split into 3 piles

1. Sell (or if you don't want to sell at all, then skip and focus on #2)
2. Donate/Give Away
3. Throw away (Aim to put as little as possible in this pile)

Guidelines for Sell:
In following posts I will cover how you can make the most money from your stuff (or at least some money). Preview: I sell my stuff to earn some money to fulfill a pre-defined goal.

Guidelines for Donate:
If you don't want to sell then please donate. This too will be covered in a future post. Some quick tips: An organization exists that will gladly take your stuff even if you think no one wants it. This ranges from old computers to used women's suits that help needy women get a leg up on job interviews. You can also donate certain items to willing friends. Finally, just because something is broken doesn't mean that certain organizations and people can't/won't be able to repair it.

Guidelines for Trash:
Please recycle your recyclables and make sure that waste is disposed of appropriately. More on this in a future post. In the meantime, if in doubt, check your city's government pages for guidelines on safe waste disposal.

Ready...Set...Go

RePlace: Goodbye Dryer

Mr. Dryer:

• Uses up a lot of electricity
• Ruins your clothing over time
• Dryer Sheets: Ew

So now we say goodbye to him and hello to:

Mr. Gullwing Dryer:

• Requires a little more patience
• Will save money on drying costs
• Doesn't know the meaning of static
• Will help your clothes last longer
• Canadians: Canadian Tire
• Americans: These are tougher to sniff out, try a local hardware store or maybe a Walmart

Energy Guzzling-Clothes Wrecking Dryer: 0
Gullwing Dryer: 1

Dematerialization: Step 1.5

Why Dematerialize?

I have come to feel like the possessions I own have somewhat come to rule my life.

• Stuff causes a lot of headaches. Think about how often stuff rules your life!
• People buy hefty insurance to guard their stuff
• People worry that their stuff will get stolen and get upset when it does
• It’s annoying to buy stuff and find that the value of your stuff has decreased
• People get jealous of other people’s stuff
• Sometimes people kill because they want other people’s stuff
• People work all day to provide their families with stuff
• Television tells us we need stuff
• People comment when you don’t have stuff (where is your microwave? How come you don’t have a juicer)
• People devote entire days to looking for stuff (let’s go to the mall, lets go to a flea market, antique show, shopping downtown, window shopping, birthday present opening, Christmas present stuff (shopping and opening).
• The more money you have, the more useless stuff you seem to accumulate
• If you have a big house, you work to fill it with lots of stuff (because empty is bad)
  

And this is just the short list!
Thinking about how much stuff rules my life made me decide to get rid of excess...

Dematerialization: Step 1

Warning: What you are about to read will change your way of life and may rattle you to the depths of your soul. If you choose to embark on a dematerialization journey, your life and outlook will never be the same.

Step 1: Dematerialization: Not for the faint of Heart
Dematerialization is a movement towards:

• Discarding material possessions that not only bog down your life, but also dictate how you live from day today including work, school, and leisure
• Changing your life, values and the way you view the world
• Replacement theory where you replace 10 useless things with 1 sleeker more useful thing
• Respect for the environment
• Respect for your body, mind, family, pets and friends

Everything that I have been writing before this is just a taste: A pre-amble.
Once the big purge dematerialization has been completed, the rest is simple maintenance & upkeep.
Dematerializing is getting rid of extra clutter in life while raising awareness of the effect the clutter has on you, and avoiding letting clutter back in

This process is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for the faint of mind. I have been in the process of dematerializing for 1 year, it is ongoing and it will change your perspective on many things.

I will be writing out a step by step guide to help anyone out there interested in living a life that isn't based on material possessions. Please feel free to comment and give feedback.

Arisu

RePlace: Household Cleaners

I'm sure many environmentalists are also dematerializers and have thus replaced their traditional household killers (cleaners) with environmentally friendly concoctions

Please, if you have cleaners at home, take a minute and think about this:

• Anything you use and pour down the sink, eventually goes into the water supply: You are therefore drinking Pinesol and Mr. Clean....Mmmm
• Cleaner manufacturers use marketing (commercials) and strong odors to convince you that something isn't clean unless it has that "chemically clean smell of pine, orange or lemons" in reality this is a mind trick, environmentally friendly alternatives clean just as well but trade off for the "clean smell" you expect, please don't be fooled!
• Just because something has lemons or oranges in it, real or not doesn't make it environmentally friendly
• Cleaners are harmful to your pets and children they have to breathe the stench and sometimes pets will get the chemicals in their mouth? Please be mindful.
• It's significantly cheaper to use environmentally friendly alternatives to cleaners and you can do it yourself with simple recipes and more simple recipes
• The reasons for not using chemical cleaners are truly infinite and the reasons for using environmentally friendly cleaners are finite: They're for the health and safety of your family members, cheaper and nicer to mother earth.

Harsh Household Chemical Cleaners: 0
Environmentally Friendly Alternatives: 1

RePlace: No more maxi pads and tampons

Hey Girls (and enviro boys who love their girls)

Tampons and pads make you feel nasty, smelly and uncomfortable (don't lie)

Filling up landfils with plastic based pads means they will never biodegrate even if tampons may, but again, let's not be too optimistic

Hand-made pads you can buy at enviromental stores require constant washing and the gross feeling is still there

Solution: Diva Cup which I can assure you from personal experience is effective and you will never go back to your old environmentally unfriendly ways

Quick reasons why Diva Cup is better (they have a full list on their site) : The smell is gone, no constant pad buying, travel lighter, can keep it in for 12 hours, no huge amount of garbage, cheaper in the long run (like 6 months worth)

Their initial price of $32.50 US is steep: Not really because it pays for itself in much less than a year

There site has a store locator so you can order online or pick it up locally. It's a Canadian based company so even Canadian girls can get one

No I don't work for the company :)

Maxi-Pads: 0
Diva Cup: 1

ReView: Charming DIY

While I realize the point of this blog is to eliminate clutter, I also love the ReUse part of ReDuce, ReUse, RePair and ReCycle so this post is about two of my favorite things: ReUsing materials and DIY fashion (Do It Yourself)

• While browsing through Boston's Craiglist I came upon Sabrina's Charm, and I was immediately in love with some of her DIY creations.
• A little about Sabrina, who was kind enough to send me some info about herself and the DIY help each other out art/fashion movement: Self taught and learning along the way she combines her offbeat style with her love for theunconventional and has managed to create unique piecesfor the like minded and for people who say "Wow I would have never thought of that!" Contact her at: brisana581@yahoo.com
• My favorites include:

Fortune Cookie Bracelets (Also available in Earrings)

Spring Bracelets

Poker Earrings

• Finally: If you like to give and receive check out: HomeOfTheSampler where a bunch of indie businesses contribute samples which are sent out to subscribers and contributers. Every month is a new package teeming with cool stuff.

DIY Accessories: 1
Claire's: 0

ReStore: Privacy and Trees

How are Privacy and Trees related?
Simple:

• Companies cut down trees to send you junk mail that infringes on your privacy. At least when you delete spam, you can sleep knowing no trees were killed!
• Not so with other junk mail

Canadians

• Some tips on avoiding junk mail (Courtesy of our own gov't)
• Remove your name from mailing lists by contacting the Canadian Direct Marketing Association at: 416/391-2362

Americans

• Call 1-888-567-8688 to remove your name from 3 credit card mailing lists, leave your name and address. Results last for 2 years, courtesy of a federal agency. In the US companies will send you unsolicited credit cards: PURE EVIL!
• Comprehensive resource on removing your name from junk mail lists/calling lists by state
• Rule of Thumb: These services will always be free if you have to pay it's likely a scam

Souless Marketers: 0
Smart DeMaterializers: 1

ReView: Gentle Fawn, Ok47, American Apparel

It's hard to find nice clothes: Honestly, with the inundation of Gaps, Old Navy's American Eagle, Abercrombie, Express, Walmart and other heinous mall stores, there is a good chance that someone else will have what you have.

On top of that, most of the clothes are made by little children or young women for pennies a day. This doesn't bother me that much because payment should be in context of the economy however the extreme 2000% markup is what annoys me most.

Enter 3 Brands that make nice clothing with none of the overt unproportional markup, 2 from Canada and 1 from the US

American Apparel: Based in Downtown LA, make simple plain clothing for girls and guys in all nice colors for a very reasonable price. On top of that, everyone in the factory is paid a fair wage AND they are in the process of creating an organic line.

Gentle Fawn: Currently my favorite brand, no description would do justice but you won't see every tacky Louis vuitton toting Chinese slipper wannabe fashionista wearing this stuff:

Ok47: Toronto-Based offshot of beloved Geek Boutique, they truly turn graphic design into an art and watch their sale page for cheap-a-licious bargains. Sometimes if you get lucky they have sample sales as well.

Ciao for now