Going green might be hard if you go gung ho, try to build a solar/wind powered/off grid home, pledge to buy only organics and cook purely from scratch, make all your own cosmetics and cleaning supplies, convert to a hybrid car or only ride your bike 100% of the time, and homeschool the kids so they get a real eco-education. However, this is not realistic green.

Realistic green means what to you? To me it means making smarter, not harder choices and spending less not more money. To me realistic green doesn’t mean making grand green gestures but does mean that many small steps when branched together create larger changes in the long run.

Going green – not so hard as you might think. Certainly not as hard as I hear. There’s a learning curve for sure, but that’s why it’s important to start slow, learn as you go, and to try and not to let other people dictate what shade of green you’re comfortable with.

I’ve been living green for a good long while and blogging at another green blog, Tree Hugging Family for almost two years now. Those two components when mixed with the people I know and the emails I get from readers means I’ve pretty much heard all the excuses there are as to why someone feels they can’t go green. “Because it’s too hard” is only one excuse I hear. Following are all the major excuses I’ve heard and some reasons why these excuses are not only wrong, but make little sense. If you’ve been feeling like green is too hard or feeling like you just can’t get going with green living the following posts should help you over the hump:

All the excuses:

1. I don’t matter
2. Global warming is a crock
3. Going green is too expensive
4. I’m not a damn hippie
5. I don’t have time
6. I have no idea where to start

Have you heard any other excuses lately? Let me know which excuses you think are valid or total bunk in the comments.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Is going green too hard & expensive?

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]

Post from: Blisstree

Organizing by Simplifying