Baby Bronti Small Shelf Unit – made with earth-easy birch panels and child safe powder coated panels. From Glosto.

There’s storage and fun with the ducduc – parker Playtable – Paper Roll – this cool art table with a removable rolling drawer for storage is 100% hardwood, and created with non-toxic lacquered paint. From 2modern.

Jax Organic Storage Tower: Orange from Nest comes in other colors, but my son likes orange so there you go. This is storage made with organic cotton and a sturdy frame so it’ll last for years. From Oompa Toys.

With the above pieces, you can store toys and stay green, all at the same time. Yay.

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Three Green Kid Storage Solutions

The Pulp Bulletin Board is made with used magazines that have been super packed together. You can use it with typical push pins or wedge business cards into the small spaces. For just $20, this is one cool green board.

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Green Bulletin Board Option

You can recycle instead of toss:

Some people want your old cases. Sign up on Freecycle and see if someone needs them.

You can ask if your local library needs them. Some might.

Many cities do have recycling centers that take old cases. However, don’t just set them on the curb; CD and DVD cases are different than say a typical water bottle plastic. Some centers may allow curbside but sometimes there are specialty centers in town that take them. To find your local centers visit Earth 911 – they have a form you can fill in and it will locate you a center.

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Where To Recycle CD & DVD Cases

It’s a little too hopped up for me; but I’m a pretty laid back kind of girl. Still, there are some excellent green decluttering ideas offered and if spunky gets your cleaning mojo going, then you should absolutely check this video out.

See How Green Eye Helps Dara Simplify her Life — and Stay Clean and Green

Enjoy.

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Clean & Green Video

Or maybe not. Still, you have to admit, in a pinch, this is a great idea. Very green if you don’t buy new boxes. The downside – no pull-out drawers.

Learn to make your own!

[photo via Instructables]

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Build Your Own Kooky Cardboard Box Desk

Zwaggle is a new place online that can help you get rid of clutter. Their description:

“Zwaggle is a national network of parents who have come together to share. It’s simple: You receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain “new” things for your family.”

This is a great reuse, decluttering, eco-friendly idea. I would try it to get rid of stuff. I likely wouldn’t take any new stuff, because remember, I’m trying to simplify. But it’s a great idea.

Jody says, “I just finished decluttering my basement using Zwaggle, and was pretty pleased.”

I checked it out, and the site is pretty user friendly, with a quick glance category list of what’s available – such as Books (150) and Baby Bedding (16) but the site offers everything from furniture to clothing to craft supplies, plus everything in-between.

It seems easy enough to create an account and get started, so what are you waiting for? Sign up to receive an invite and send off your stuff! Clutter free in no time.

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Do You Zwaggle

However, here’s the deal. When you blog people like to send you free stuff. That may sound great, but I don’t like getting free stuff. I think we’ve pretty well established that I don’t love a lot of extra stuff, and while I sometimes get handy items that I use, mostly I get stuff that I just turn around and give away in a contest or to a friend.

That said, I received a different sort of white board item last October. I did a review and liked it, but really, I didn’t think I’d be using it all that often. In fact, I almost gave it away. That would have sucked, because as it turns out, it may be the one and only item a company ever sent me that I use every single day. Every day, no joke.

What’s this wonder item:

It’s the Jot-It desktop writing board from cocoa. It’s not a typical white board. It’s desk friendly. It’s not desk friendly for me because I have a small desk. What I use it for is a to-do lists system. I keep it in the kitchen and write down groceries I need, phone numbers, tasks I don’t want to forget, and more.

Last October I wrote a super long review of the Jot-It at my Office blog. Since I’m not going to rewrite the review here, you can read it there. Just to get you tempted, here are some pictures:

I will say here, that this is a great green product that can save on paper use, and help to get you organized at the same time. Additionally, one of my cons, in my old review, was that pens were not offered at the cocoa online shop – I felt it would be useful to be able to pick up more from cocoa directly. Well, since then they have added pens to their online store. Cool beans that a company listens to consumers in my opinion.

I will also point out that I LOVE the pen that came with the Jot-It. I’m still using the original pen, and remember, I use this daily, and I got this in October. That’s one good pen.

In any case this is not some plain old white board item. You’ll really like it. You can use it in your kitchen, on your desk, at the office, or really anywhere. Read my old review – or simply visit cocoa’s website to learn more.

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Another Dry Erase Board – Seriously?

My co-blogger Peggy over at Tree Hugging Family scored some awesome kid on-the-go storage. Take a look:

How cute are these! Plus they’re from Envirosax – a company who specializes in artistic, eco-chic shopping bags. These are green and adorable. Your kid can store everything on-the-go in them.

At Tree Hugging Family we’re giving away three bags to 3 adorable kiddos and one of them could be your kid if you enter. To win, all you have to do is ask your little, “How should we take care of the earth?” This includes the air, the water, plants, animals and people!

Basically I’m being selfish by urging you to enter – so far we’ve had some of the most adorable, funny, and smart kid answers ever – I feel like we should be on that old show, Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Of course then we’d somehow have to get Bill Cosby lined up.

Anyhow, reading all their answers is way fun, and I’d love to hear more. So if you have a cute child or know a cute child, I’d get over to Tree Hugging Family to enter. Then I can be utterly impressed with your child too.

Click here to enter – or at least click over to read what the other kids have said.

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Got cute kids? Then you should enter this extra cute contest!

To clarify, when I talk about simplifying, I’m talking about ditching some of that stuff you own, or stuff you buy, or new stuff you think you need. This includes the entire family.

Why simplify your life from an organizing point of view:

It clears out the clutter and makes your job of organizing so much simpler. Not only does this solve most organizing issues, but it frees up time you can use for other things.

You can see and use the stuff you already have. How many times have you needed something, but there’s so much clutter, that it’s hard to find. Has this ever resulted in you buying two of something? That bites, right?

It makes it easy for your kids to help out with cleaning and organizing. If you consider organizing from a kid’s point of view, the task can seem overwhelming. Where to start, how to organize, and ways to stay neat and tidy probably seem impossible to a kid looking inward at a room stuffed to the max.

It makes your house look neat for company and you can clean on a moment’s notice. It’s true, the less knick knacks to dust, the less piles to move, the quicker you clean. No more worries about company saying they’ll be over in five minutes.

So far as budget organizing goes, there’s no better way to get that budget organized and in shape than by spending less in the first place. I’m one of those people who write down every penny, if you’re like me, less stuff looks appealing from a accounting point of view.

Other good reasons to simplify your life:

Your brain will feel nice and clear when you see your space clear. I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, but I think for many it is. Too much visual stimulation (read mess and clutter) in our bedrooms, living areas, and lives in general, can make it hard to focus, tough to relax, and in some case cause a panicky feeling.

Once you attach to the idea of having less stuff you can reattach to what your real goals are. I’m sure your goals aren’t to have, have, have lots of stuff. At least, I hope not. It’s healthier to focus on finding your passions in life, time with your family, and activities you actually enjoy vs. working to earn money for stuff, cleaning up said stuff, and eventually trying to get rid of or store the stuff.

If you actively simplify your spaces and life, your kids will follow suit, especially if you start when they’re young.

Simplifying is better for the environment. There’s not a real argument here, if you care about the planet, you do need to exercise control when it comes to stuff.

Of course, a major aspect and benefit of simplifying in this country, is the elimination of debt. No one like debt, surely, we don’t want it, yet people have a lot of stuff. TVs for every family member, 30 pairs of shoes, 15 cookbooks, and more, it all gets to be a bit much, on our thinking, our space, and our wallets.

What’s next:

If you’re interested in learning more about stuff for the sake of stuff, materialism, and consumerism, especially as it relates to kids and families, another blog of mine has been running a week-long series about it. They’re green related posts, because it’s a green blog, but the issue of stuff, crosses over into all parts of our lives. I won’t be discussing this side of stuff much here at Declutter It, so if you’re interested, some good posts to check out at my other blog include:

• Raising Green Kids In A Commercial Culture
• Commercials Are Everywhere
• Eco-friendly Ways to Reward Kids
• As a parent, do you understand the impact of the need for stuff?
• Tips for Talking With Your Kids About Purchases
• If you’re so against having stuff, then why show all these products on this blog?
• Kids & Shopping – How Kids Can Be Smart Consumers

Here at Declutter It, we’re going to look at the organizing side of stuff and simplifying, more so than the consumer issues related to stuff, although it really does all tie together. About once or twice a week, I’ll do a post related to decluttering by means of simplifying. We’ll look at techniques for minimizing (that aren’t stressful), ways to make choices about which stuff you need to keep, and other related issues.

What are your thoughts on stuff? Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in stuff, your kid’s stuff? Do you have just the right amount of stuff, or not enough? Let me know.

[mural photo from mteson]

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Organizing by Simplifying

Eventually, you decide you’d like nicer looking recycling bins to organize all the cans and paper. When that happened I went a hunting for some recycling bin options. Oddly I’ve been stock piling them and still use old bins. Sad. Still, it does mean I have some stellar ideas for you.

One of my favorite options regarding nice recycling bins, is one I’ve already blogged about – I hate rehashing stuff so you can read that post right here. As for the other options, well…

From Heal’s these awesome neutral colored Recycling Bins (UK mainland and Northern Ireland only) I’ve been hunting them down in the US for a bit now, still, lucky you if you live across the pond. These are some of the best looking recycling bags I’ve seen. Simple, nice colors, contemporary but not wacky noticeable. [via Latest Homes]

The 2-Bin Recycling Center from the Container Store. I’m not a white fan. I know I’m in the minority though, thus, these bins. I do like the design. They just sort of tuck all your recycling away nicely.

Or for some wacky fun you could always try some old school Feed the Cows Recycling Bins. Not that they’d fit well in the kitchen. [via the ever slick Apartment Therapy]

I have to find those cute natural colored bins here in the states. I love them. Although, that first set I linked to is pretty cool too. What are you looking for in recycling bin style? Sadly, there’s not much available. That’s probably why when something semi stylish comes up I start to gush.

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Recycling Three Ways + Bonus Cow Idea