Autumn is a great time of year for a clear out! Are you like me and just love to reassess what you own and get your life in some kind of neater order around this time of year? I don’t know if it is the change of weather or the lead up to Christmas, but Autumn is a great time for this!
Beauty
Let’s start with beauty… We ALL own things that we don’t need and those into their beauty will be able to appreciate the fact that we love to hoard items that we don’t actually use that much. I’ve been trying really hard to decrease my beauty spending recently and concentrate first on what I already own. No one needs hundreds of eye shadow palettes that get untouched for months! I’ve been going through my miniatures and organising my beauty collection so that I can constantly see what I own. It’s so important to make sure things you don’t use go to a better home (and that isn’t the bin as this is wasteful). If you know one of your friends would appreciate a beauty product more than you why not give it to them before using it? I often get free gifts that I sometimes don’t use because of reasons like “wrong skin type” or “not what I would have chosen myself” and so finding someone that would love this product is a great idea! Why not take photos and ask them in a message so you can give it to them next time you see them? Find some companies that recycle beauty products like Garnier via Terracycle. I found this blog by Byrdie interesting on recycling beauty products too.
Clothes
Clothes are also a good thing to go through. After hearing so many things about Fast Fashion and the impact it has on the environment, I really want to be more mindful about what I own and buy in the way of fashion. Having a clear out and assessing the items that have carried you through several years are ones to hold onto. Make your wardrobe exciting and full of items that give you confidence. Give to charity those items that would suit another person more and those ones you don’t think make you feel special. I want to only buy things that make me feel good and if I have any doubts about an item, I don’t want it in my wardrobe. Using charity shops is a great way to make sure the clothes do not end up on landfill sites. They recycle clothes too from the ones they decide not to keep so never think it isn’t good enough to give away.
General Household
I’m not only talking about assessing the food in your cupboards to use up if it has a use by date approaching, but also the items that clutter up the home unnecessarily. I rarely buy things like DVDs that I will only watch once as these days things are so accessible on TV subscriptions. I moved about a year ago and recently there were things we hadn’t even used since moving. So, we knew they had to be donated to charity. Someone else will make better use of it.
Round Up
Remember to be mindful about what you do with the items you are clearing out. Recycle and donate where possible. Doing regularly clear-outs can help keep on top of things and actually make you mindful about what you buy in future. Are you going to be doing an Autumn detox?
