Recently Marie Kondo sparked a craze of simplifying your life, with the by line, “Does this item spark joy?” Now people all over the globe are taking part in cleansing the soul and home. While Marie is helping people create a simplified home life, what is this decluttering doing to our planet? How can we as a town cleanse our homes and be a better steward for the environment? There are a few things that citizens can do to lessen the burden on our environment that does not take a lot of money, effort, or time and it starts with the 3 R’s.
•Reduce: Choose less packaging. Choose the items not wrapped in layers of plastic, and bring your own bags and containers. Zero Waste stores are popping up all over the world, and we hope to see a few near us soon. Recently over 98 communities in Massachusetts have passed plastic bag bans. Communities can make a big difference by encouraging their Board of Health to enact a plastic bag ban to reduce our dependence of plastic bags and decrease bags in the litter stream.
•Reuse: Reusing or giving away items will help close the loop. While Kon Mari-ing your home, see what you might reuse and is there a new way for that item to “spark joy”? In East Longmeadow, we have the SimpleRecycling textile program as a convenient way to have others reuse your textiles. Whether it’s going to someone in need or shredded for insulation, it’s getting reused. Are you handy? Let’s start a Repair Café and reuse these items. Instead of tossing that old blender, let a volunteer fix it or teach you too.
•Recycle: The China Sword recycling policy has complicated our recycling programs by lowering the accepted contamination rate, causing waste companies and communities to panic. Although the China Sword policy surprised America, we are slowly adapting. American recycling and waste industries have now realized that we need to build manufacturing companies in the US, and that process has begun. Communities and businesses have a role to play too, and it all boils down to recycling the right items the right way. If you’ve decided that an item does not “spark joy” anymore and it’s time for it to go, get back the basics of recycling. This can be done by following a few simple rules:
1.Recycle all empty containers, paper, and cardboard
2.Keep food and liquids out of your recycling
3.Keep plastic bags out of your recycling
Thousands of people have said the Marie Kondo method has changed their life for the better. As you remove items from your home that add chaos and clutter to your life, I encourage you to explore the much larger possibilities the Konmari method may provide to our planet. There are many ways small daily behavior changes can organize, clean, and de-clutter the larger “home” we all share, the planet.
Liz Bone
Recycling Coordinator
Town of East Longmeadow
