CLUTTER AND ZERO WASTE// The Hidden Benefits of Letting Go
I started refilling coffee in reusable jars not because of Zero Waste, but because I needed a solution for my clutter problem. I was hoarding coffee bags, shoving them into overstuffed drawers because I didn’t want to throw them out and make garbage. It was frustrating because I wasn’t using the bags, but I also couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them.
Keeping stuff you don’t need or want, because you’re afraid of letting go, or worried about what will happen to it, doesn’t solve the problem of wastefulness. It just clutters your space, sitting there until you make the decision about how to get it out of your house. Things can’t be unmade, and when an item leaves your house (donation, recycling, trash), the item isn’t disappearing; it’s just going somewhere else.
When we buy coffee in a disposable bag or plastic to-go cup; you’re not only buying the coffee, you’re also saying “yes, I want that” to the item that holds the coffee. What we can do, is stop the cycle. If we let in fewer items altogether, including packaging, we reduce the amount of stuff we have to let go and send somewhere else.
When I started refilling my coffee in a glass jar, it solved my clutter problem and reduced my waste. But it was the unexpected shift that happened internally that led me to keep exploring how making less waste would improve other areas of my life. I experienced a greater sense of ease, both emotionally and mentally because as I processed the clutter, I had to process what led to it in the first place. I noticed that clutter in my external environment reflected clutter in my mental and emotional body.
Filling up the jar and eliminating disposable bags helped me act in a way that reflected who I wanted to be, a person who did something about the things I cared about (pollution). Have a look through your garbage, recycling or clutter hoards, is there one thing that accumulates frequently that you also don’t like (disposable water bottles, magazines, junk mail)?
Would eliminating this solve multiple issues (like clutter and garbage)?
Have you experienced unexpected benefits by dealing with your waste?