If you have been decluttering and have decided whether you are keeping or removing items from your home. You will be faced with roughly two very large piles:

1. The items you keep and will need to organise don't worry about that for now.

2. If the items is in good condition that you won't need it anymore.

These last items are clutter to you and need to leave your house.

So how to get rid of clutter in pile two?

The 3 ways on how to get rid of clutter

If the item goes you’ll be clearing clutter and freeing up your space. If the item is in good condition you are passing it on to someone else to use and enjoy.

Giving it away
Recycling it
Find a pick up service that specialises in how to get rid of clutter.

If the item goes you’ll be clearing clutter and freeing up your space. If the item is in good condition you are passing it on to someone else to use and enjoy.

**How to get rid of clutter is simply to Give it away**

The easiest way to give items away is via the nearest second-hand shop. For most of my own declutter sessions and those with clients, I would finish with a car full of stuff and drive it straight to the second-hand shop, creating a sense of completion and relief! It is by far the easiest answer to how to get rid of clutter. You might feel a bit anxious the first few times you drop stuff off, but it gets a lot easier over time.
Another way how to get rid of clutter (which is still nice and useable) is to items to friends or family. This idea is lovely, but it is the least reliable. When will you meet your friend or relative next? Will you remember to give it to them when you see them? I tend to forget, meaning the risk is that the item can be floating in your space for months. Also, your friend might not want to tell you that they see the item as clutter as well. "Oh, you really shouldn't have" is sometimes code for “Please don't give me your clutter”.

How to get rid of clutter and get paid?

Yes, you can sell your items online. However, I normally advise against it or suggest you outsource (to the nearest teenager with a phone and an eBay account). I am assuming you are here because you want more space, time, and less clutter. Although selling items online is an avenue to achieve this, it is also a massive project in and of itself.

Making photos, setting up an account, and monitoring people who want to buy it. If you haven't done this before, have limited IT skills, and you calculate what your time is worth. You will most likely save more time and money by donating the items.

**Recycling as a way of how to get rid of clutter**

Clearly, not everything can be given away, some items have lived their life and need to be disposed of. Therefore, we need to dive into the world of Recycling)
One way of getting rid of a significant amount of stuff is to fill up your car and ride to the nearest tip. For a small fee, they can literally take the load of your shoulders. A lot of councils also offer a whole range of recycling options (often free).
**Example of how to get rid of clutter for tricky items:**
At the tip in my local council, they take electronics, cardboard some furniture and only if your items don't fit into any of these categories, it will go to the landfill.

Some larger businesses have specific ways on how to get rid of clutter

In Australia, more and more companies are offering recycling services (some have gotten there kicking and screaming others are much more proactive).

Here are some examples on how to get rid of clutter with specific needs:

Batteries -Officeworks and Aldi accept these
Plastic bags - Coles and Woolworths often have bins that accept plastic bags for recycling - update they don’t anymore but they have finally opted for paper bags
Clothes—H&M and others have an initiative where they take your old clothes and give you a discount voucher for every bag of old clothes you drop off.
Computers/printers etc. - Officeworks again has an extensive recycle wall you place the item in the right bin
Bottles -Woolworths has automated units to bring your bottles to. You get a few cents per bottle, but it could add up (you could also outsource this task to a child or incorporate it into your regular grocery shopping).

**Pick-up services specialise in how to get rid of clutter**

Several companies or councils offer pick up services here are some ideas:
**The 2nd hand shop**, most of them have a number of trucks with strong guys driving around the region to pick up for example; bed-frames, furniture or simply a large volume of items.
If this is your choice on how to get rid of clutter you own, You will need to call them and book in but this tends to be 5 minutes very well spend and it is a way that allows you to get rid of clutter very quickly. (Phone call, a date for pick up often within the week and you have your space back).

How to get rid of clutter in your area?

Locally, where I live, we have initiatives like soft-landing you pay $25 dollars per mattress. They pick up, reuse and recycle the mattress in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Not only are they making things better for the environment, but also providing jobs for people who are less fortunate than you and me. It has been amazing over the years to see how many people ask how to get rid of clutter, meaning their mattress; people can keep a mattress in their hallway, spare bedroom or garage for years. This initiative saves the mattress clutter problem with one phone call.
Another initiative in my local area that falls under how to get rid of clutter regarding paperwork is shredding with Flagstaff, an organisation that hires people with disabilities. For less than $10,- dollars I can get a box of papers securely shredded. The people who work here are amazingly friendly and proud of the work they do.
How to get rid of clutter in bulk: utilise the services from your local council. Most councils offer one or two free council pick-ups per year. Once you have done a decent declutter, book a time and watch them take it away within a week for free. In most cases, this means the material is taken to landfill, so I like to look at all the other options for recycling and reusing first.

How to get rid of clutter Country specific?

Note that the execution of these steps (in terms of where) can be very country-specific. I would love your tips and insights if you live in another part of the world from me (Australia, an hour south of Sydney).

In this video I talk a little more about responsible organising.

Before we wrap up let's talk about guilt

Clearly, you are a switched on individual and you know how to get rid of clutter (although I hope to have shown you some new ideas as well). But most of us myself included feel guilty when we get rid of clutter.

Let’s talk about a few reasons why:

Some of us are baby boomers a lot of us are the descendants of baby boomers. Meaning there is a strong link back to people who knew tough times. Those who couldn't throw anything away and needed to hold onto every item ever purchased.
As you know, this is not the world we live in. So we have a mix of incredible guilt and responsibility to hold onto items. Within a world that has moved to mass consumerism, with items that are simply not designed to last forever.
We are finally told that the fate of the earth lies in our hands, we pollute too much and need to recycle more. This puts us in a very difficult, emotional, psychological, sociological and environmental situation.

I don't have all the answers on this and I do feel guilty when I have bought a product that didn't work or I have to dispose of something no longer useful. I know, however, the more you declutter and organise, the less you will buy and pollute the world in the future. You will have more money and time and can invest in better longer-lasting sustainable products.

How to get Rid of clutter and Guilt - The way I see it is:

If you become more responsible in what you buy, how much you buy and how you dispose of items. You are doing more and a better job than if your estate needs to be cleaned up by a dump truck a few decades from now.

Where from here?

Can you tell me your key tip on how to get rid of clutter?

Do you know about some amazing recycling schemes going on in your country, city or neighbourhood?

Let me know!
Include how this will help people who are trying to get rid of clutter.

Do you like this stuff?

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