Don’t think you can’t throw something away just because it can still be used. Change your mindset. Think to yourself, I’ve used it once, so I can throw it away.
• Clothes, books, magazines
• Cosmetics and toiletries
• Medicines
• Freebies
• Wrapping paper, string, boxes, used paper
• Spices
• Product samples
• Clothes, books, magazines
The approach here is basically the same as for items listed under Strategy 2, but please note that people find things in these three categories most difficult to discard because it gives them a feeling of being wasteful: “I can still wear it”; “Maybe there’s some important information there”; “I haven’t read it all”; “It may be useful one day.” Almost everybody in our survey had this mentality.
The belief that things should be used until their potential is exhausted is a powerful one. People seem to think that if they keep something, there’ll be the opportunity at some point for this potential to be used. (The reason some people like passing things on to second-hand shops is the idea that somebody else will take over this potential.)
But it’s better not to bother about whether you use things to their full potential. It may well be the case that they could be used more, but they can still be disposed of. Accept this and you’ll save yourself a lot of worry.
Or you could go a bit further and say, “It’s done what I bought it to do, so that’s that. I’ve used it to the full.” Say you bought some fashionable clothes on impulse, for example, and you enjoyed wearing them once—that’s enough. Or you bought a magazine for its special feature—you read the feature, so you don’t have to keep the magazine because you haven’t read the rest of it. In other words, by fulfilling your purpose, its potential has, in fact, been exhausted.
• Cosmetics and toiletries
It is easy for make-up and toiletries to accumulate. And it’s not just women that have trouble discarding these kinds of items. Men have similar problems, too. Not many women like to use the same eyeshadow over a long period, for example, so they tend to purchase new ones frequently. And even if you don’t buy a lot of cosmetics for yourself, you may be given them as gifts. So you end up with a collection of partially used items.
Look in your drawers and baskets. Are there jars of foundation where you’ve reached the bottom at the center but not at the sides? Are there tubes of hair gel that could be squeezed just a few more times?
Don’t wait to finish them. If there’s anything you haven’t used for a while, simply throw it away. A regime of regular discarding (Strategy 5) is helpful here.
• Medicines, etc.
There are various ways that this type of thing can accumulate. You may be given four days’ worth of medicine for a cold, but take it for only three days and so have one day’s supply left. You may buy something for a headache when you’re out, even though you have painkillers at home. You may buy different ointments for various problems. Even if you think you’ll be able to use them at some stage, once you’ve had them for a while you wonder whether you should.
Don’t let these things pile up. If it’s something prescribed by the doctor, throw any surplus away after you stop taking it. If you’ve got different boxes of the same type of over-the-counter medicines, and you bought them around the same time, combine them in a single box and try always to use that supply.
• Freebies
Giveaways, like towels, soaps, and tea, tend to accumulate. It doesn’t seem right to throw a new towel away, and tea and soaps can always be used, even if you don’t really like them.
The towels can be used as cloths; you might want to keep them until your end-of-year clean-up then, once they’re dirty, throw them away. That way you get your cleaning done and get rid of the towels at the same time. Of course, you can wash a towel and use it again and again if you want to. But if you do that too often, the number of unused towels will grow.
With things like tea and soap, open them up and see if you like them. If you don’t, throw them away. If you keep them, you probably won’t use them.
• Wrapping paper, string, boxes, used paper
These were all mentioned under Strategy 3—“Discard when you exceed a certain amount.” This means accepting the idea that it is OK to throw things away without using them up.
• Spices
Spices just sit there forever. You might have used them only once, having bought them when you were trying out an unusual recipe or when a friend recommended them.
If you’re not used to a particular spice or flavor, it’s very difficult to use a whole jar of it. Don’t be tempted by an attractive container into buying too much. It might look good on the shelf, but your kitchen has far too much stuff in it already. It’s more sensible to get a small bag or sachet. And if it’s not going to be a regular feature in your cooking, get rid of it.
• Product samples
When you’re out shopping you’re often given free samples—perfume, shampoo, and so on. It feels good to get something for nothing. But do you ever use these things? Perhaps you try them and then, if you don’t particularly like them, you throw them in a drawer and forget about them.
If you don’t like them, just throw them away. Or, depending on what the product is, it may be good to take on a trip. Use as much as you need while traveling and then dispose of it while you’re away.
With the “I’ve-used-it-once-so-I-can-get-rid-of-it” mindset a lot of things are easier to discard. Depending on the item, it may be a question of “once” or “this much,” but either way this attitude will stop you worrying about being wasteful. The approach basically emphasizes disposability.
This is a slight digression, but the Western custom of making patchwork from old clothes can be helpful with this strategy. You may have clothes which you don’t want to throw away because of associated memories. If you keep patches of material from them, it is less difficult to part with the clothes. You can then use the pieces to make a bag, oven mitt, or bed cover—whatever your handiwork skills are up to. A lot of people in Japan already use this approach with children’s clothes, sewing patches together to make things like shoe bags for their children to use at school.
Perhaps it’s a very female idea, but if you think that using one part of something may help you feel that the whole hasn’t been wasted, then why not give it a try? On the other hand, if you end up with ten oven mitts in the house, you’re just accumulating something else, so only try this idea with clothes that you find very difficult to throw away.
You might, for example, like to make a purse or a bag from a kimono or dress your mother used to wear. Changing form and reducing size—it’s another method of disposal.