Over the next few months, I will be packing up my Iowa condo and moving most of it into storage. I am working on finding a job in Chicago, so I am able to move into my parents condo in Lincoln Park. I have been working on a list of things I am going to rid of, store, etc.
- get rid of unneeded furniture
- rid of all unneeded office supplies
- pack up and store needed bedding and towels
- rid of all food products left
- go through basement
- sell unwanted yarn
- create list of needed/wanted items
- donate books in garage
- rid of unwanted toiletries
- rid of unwanted extra cleaning supplies
This is a very small list, but it will be growing. My mom and I have already moved my aquariums to Illinois and my cockatiel and dog are also here. My animals will never return to the condo. This will make moving much easier and faster. I would really like to downsize the amount of small items I have, such as toiletries, paper items, etc. I don't want to have to deal with owning so much anymore. I have noticed that I am happier with less. Throughout this moving ordeal, I want to be able to control what I actually own. It is hard when I have a mom who loves to shop and give her children things. I appreciate it, but it is difficult, very difficult. I know that when I move into my own place in Chicago, it is going to be a lot smaller than the place in Iowa, that is one of the main reasons I need to rid of a lot of belongings. I just need to figure out how to get rid of things that my mom wants me to keep. She is offended by my desire not to have tchotchkes, which she has a fondness for. If you have any ideas on how to reason with her, please let me know.
My mom also wants me to buy more clothes, I just donated 4 massive bags of clothes. I don't want to buy anything more. My mom has a closet literally the size of my bedroom growing up.
Here are some new photos of my cabinets:
cabinet #2
For those of you wondering what my kitchen looks like (MOM)
I apparently found two cockroaches in my condo, so I had to buy some traps and put them out. Ugh, but the weird thing is that the roaches were upstairs. . . not in the kitchen.
These next photos are basically for my mom, who believes I haven't made any progress with this lifestyle change. I am still working on my living room and dining area, but for the most part it's done.
My bedroom
My master bath
Closet (I don't need anymore clothes mom)
My study's closet
I have been working on every room of my condo, reducing first and then organizing what I am keeping.
I have never been known in my family as an organized and clean person (not hygienically). I have been working very hard to change that. I hope people start to notice.
While I was petsitting my parents' two dogs and african grey parrot, I made more changes to my lifestyle. I have purchased more bins and tools to help me de-clutter and organize my life and home. I purchased two of the Umbra "crunchable hampers" to use at the grocery store and maybe the farmer's market. I bought both in the green colour. I have already used one and I really like it. It fits perfectly in a cart and holds everything I purchase.
I also purchased two of these bins to help organize my large amount of printer paper.
I also splurged on a Diva Cup. I will try it and give you guys a review later on.
My mom gave me a strange look, as usual since I started making these eco-friendly changes to my life. You should have seen her reaction to my use of the jars. Of course where my parents live, the idea of taking your own containers is awesome, but still very strange. I have definitely already seen benefits from using jars. I buy less and waste less food. I have also been using up foods in my cabinets that had been "lost" in the chaos of how the cabinets used to be. My life feels less stressful since I actually know where everything is now.
I did have a breakthrough with my mom though. I made her some homemade all purpose cleaner. The other day she tried it on their parrot's cage and loved it! She claims the vinegar based cleaner dissolves the feces and foods scraps very well. At least I convinced her to change one thing.
I have finally received the two components to set up my indoor compost bin. I purchased a "worm friendly habitat" and 1000 red worms. I set up the compost bin on Thursday, when these pictures were taken. The worms have begun to settle in. They definitely have enough food for quite a while.
This picture was taken Thursday and there is definitely more food and some more bedding in the bin now.
I'm hoping that having the compost bin will lower the amount of garbage I have going out.
I have also been making progress on my de-cluttering. I took a large bin and three grocery paper bags full of items to Goodwill today. I now need to work on de-cluttering the upstairs, go through all of my books and take the unused food to the food bank. Here are some photos of my progress so far.
cabinet number 1:
cabinet number 2:
One of the best things about a zero waste lifestyle is that almost every meal uses fresh ingredients. I am obviously working to rid of all of my packaged food. I think I'm doing an okay job so far. I am taking everything in my cabinets that I won't eat to the food pantry. I would rather it be used than thrown away.
Just as an update, my cockatiel Rosie is doing better. We are past the halfway point with the antibiotic. It has been difficult giving it to her, but it's working. I'm glad she's feeling better and eating more.
