SAN DIEGO — Springtime activities are starting up — including time for spring cleaning! The new season is a good time to start fresh.
CBS 8's Alex Lai got some expert tips from professional organizer and owner of Ready, Set, Organize Sarah Dunn.
"Our wardrobe is changing, the weather is changing, and it's a great time to kind of reconsider everything that we own," Dunn said.
Expert's top spring cleaning tips
Dunn's top tips for spring cleaning are:
- Start somewhere small, and build up momentum to tackle bigger spaces.
- Create a system that works for you.
- Don't feel the need to keep gifts you don't want just because someone gave it to you.
- Skip the maybe pile — hold onto it for now, and reconsider later.
- Keep the things that make you feel good.
- Make sure everything has a home.
The SPACE acronym
Dunn's process is to use the acronym SPACE:
- Sort: Pull things out and sort them into general categories.
- Purge or pair down: Figure out, do you need this anymore? Does it fit you? What can we let go of?
- Assign the rest a home: Figure out one home for each grouping of items.
- Contain: Any type of organizing product or system that will keep the organization in place.
- Enjoy: Just enjoy the space you've created.
Spring cleaning doesn't have to end in a picture perfect home. It can be as simple as getting rid of a few things or grouping similar products together.
"What's important is creating a system that's gonna work for you," Dunn said. "You don't have to live up to an Instagram worthy pantry, closet."
Donate, recycle, dispose
So what's next? You cleaned out your home and are left with bags of items and trash.
Try to donate and recycle what you can, but make sure you dispose of things properly.
Amy Unruh is the Waste Recovery Manager at I Love a Clean San Diego.
"A lot of people when they get into spring cleaning, they just want to throw everything out all at once," Unruh said. "But not everything can go into the recycling bin, and not everything can go into the trash."
One resource she shared is Wastefreesd.org. Go to the site and type in what you have and your zip code. It'll show you where you can bring it or how to dispose of it. This can be things like paint, batteries and light bulbs that have been sitting in your garage or junk drawer.
Where to donate clothes, home items
There's also a number of places to donate clothes and home items in San Diego.
Here are links to some:
- Father Joe's Villages
- Alpha Project: personal items
- Sharia's Closet: clothes, used vehicles
- Out of the Closet: offers pick-up for large items
- My Girlfriend's Closet: women and girls' clothes
- Streets of Hope: clothes and toiletries for the homeless
- SD Habitat for Humanity: good condition appliances, household items, house materials
- Goodwill
And to make spring cleaning easier next year, start by thinking ahead when buying things.
Here are some questions Unruh said to ask yourself before making a purchase:
- Do I already have something similar?
- Is this something that I just want now?
- Will I want it in two weeks, two months, two years?
- Is this something I can rent or borrow instead?
Happy spring cleaning!
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